Blonde and Blue
by Montana Angell
Summary: When an UnSub targets blonde blue eyed women, the team gets a little over protective. It comes with good reason though. Just as they were getting closer to the answer, the thing they've been trying to avoid happens. JJ/EMILY FRIENDSHIP!
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, so. Who's excited AJ and Paget's coming back? i know i seem incredibly cool about it now, but as soon as i saw it, i was screaming, flailing my arms everywhere. I'm, happy to say the least. Anyway, this is my first Criminal Minds story. i hope it lives up to standards. **

**Basically, it's a case fic but centred more on the team and JJ. This is also a JJ and Emily friendship fic. Other characters will be featured heavily too so don't fear. Also, i've already written the whole story so i'll proabably post a chapter a day or every two days.**

**Rating because of typical Criminal Mindness.**

**Enjoy!**

It wasn't like victimology had never matched any of the BAU team before.

About a year ago, black men in their thirties were being targeted by some racist, tattooed whack job. A couple of months ago, a twenty two year old female university student decided that, because her boyfriend broke up her, she would randomly go around killing all the team leaders she could get her hands on. Her boyfriend was the quarterback on the football team, so that's probably why she thought all team leaders were stuck up.

Morgan or Hotch could easily have been attacked. They weren't.

"What?"

"JJ, this guy, he's attacking women. Blonde, blue eyed women. Women in their thirties." Morgan raised an eyebrow.

"I was the one who briefed you; I think I would know the victimology." JJ hardened her gaze, not backing down.

"You can't make a press release. He'll see you and well, you're you." Reid stated. JJ rolled her head to her left where he was stood.

"Thank you Reid. Your input was so helpful." Her mouth twitched into a sarcastic smile. Reid nodded and smiled, not really understanding JJ's sarcasm. "The point is," JJ turned back to the rest of the team, "if the women being killed were dark haired and brown eyed, would you immediately go all big brother on Prentiss?"

Everyone turned to Prentiss who wasn't really in the conversation. She looked sideways at them and noticed their staring.

"What?"

"She's Prentiss." Morgan stated.

"She's one of us, profiling wise. She can protect herself." Rossi joined the argument.

"Empowering." Prentiss nodded to herself quietly.

"So what you're saying is that I'm not one of you?" JJ turned her head, seeming a little hurt.

"Woah! No, you are so twisting our words right now Jay." Morgan put his hands forward in an innocent stance.

"It's what you said."

"This is where I'm gonna step right on in here." Emily moved herself forward through the group of men and stood next to JJ. "JJ here is perfectly capable of taking care of herself and anyway when are we ever alone? Because of Garcia here," Prentiss pointed at the now red head sat in the corner of the bull pen, "we're sharing rooms, so I'll be with her then and when we're working the case it's not like we're gonna send her off to some old abandoned house on a hill on her own are we?"

The men were silenced.

"In my defence, my steaming cup of hot chocolate was in the room when I was booking the rooms and he kept….doing things." Garcia drifted off into her own mind at the end of the sentence. Morgan smiled to himself before seeing the look on Hotch's face.

"It's not that. This guy's good. The women he's attacking are authoritable figures or women with higher end jobs. Jobs that change lives. That's you JJ." Morgan pushed once more.

"You all seem to be stating things I already know. Actually, I was the one that told you them." JJ said matter-of-factly.

"Guys, what are you actually getting at here?" Emily leaned back on her desk.

"We just want you to be safe. Rossi can do the press conferences and you could help out by working in the office the local police have set up for us." Hotch spoke in his usual monotone voice.

JJ shook her head. For a team leader, he really wasn't leading. She also couldn't help but think the guys were being slightly sexist here. Oh, that could be her next point of argument. She smiled a little to herself.

"Why are you being so sexist?" JJ folded her arms. Emily turned to look at JJ, eyebrows raised. She nodded approvingly. Garcia joined the two ladies and folded her arms much like Emily had done right after JJ.

"Yeah. What happened to equal rights and all the jargon?" Garcia tilted her head quizzically.

The boys' mouths opened and closed. Hotch looked to his left then to his right. None of the team seemed to come up with any other counter arguments. He then wondered why the girls always seemed to win. He sighed then began to walk away.

"Wheels up in thirty. JJ, remember the files."

JJ smiled victoriously before placing her hands in front of her two female co-workers. Prentiss and Garcia smiled mockingly at the boys before high fiving JJ and walking off to their necessary spaces.

"You always play the sexist card." Reid observed, before facing the ground and walking to his desk.

"Why are we flying to Pennsylvania?" Reid looked up from his book.

"Because that's where the murders take place." Rossi narrowed his eyes a little, wondering if it was a trick question.

"Yes, I know that. But statistically it would only take us about thirty minutes to drive there anyway." Reid marked his place in his book and turned to the rest of the team. Most of the team's brows furrowed.

"Habit." Hotch answered simply.

"And suitcase space." Prentiss snuggled further into the chair next to JJ.

"If you needed more clothes you could just as easily drive home and be back within the space of an hour." Reid observed.

"Yes." Emily spoke sleepily with closed eyes. "An hour that could've been used interviewing a suspect or saving JJ from the grasp of the UnSub."

"Hey!" JJ, who was sat in the seat next to Emily, slapped her shoulder almost playfully. Emily's eyes shot open.

"Jayje! I told you I'd just had my shots!" Emily rubbed her arm lightly.

"Really? I don't recall." JJ tilted her head and narrowed her eyes evilly.

"Let's go over the case again before landing." Hotch sat down in the seat opposite Prentiss. JJ stood and pulled out pictures and pieces of paper.

"Okay. Lindsay Evans, Jackie Davis and Emma Woods, all blonde, blue eyed as we know. They are all in their thirties. Lindsay Evans was taken on the second of April. She was presumably taken from just outside her work at Milford High School after a late shift. She was discovered at five pm the next day in the woods. When she was discovered her clothes were severely torn and she was gagged and tied at the wrists and ankles. The autopsy report states that she was beaten furiously. The UnSub then calved the word 'PROMOTION' into her arms, while she was still alive, with a blunt knife. Cause of death is due to a stab wound to the upper left of the chest using, most likely, the same knife." JJ summarised.

"Remind me why we're going over this again?" Prentiss sat up and threw the blanket covering her to the side. She definitely wouldn't be able to sleep now.

"The same M.O is used for Jackie Davis and Emma Woods. Jackie Davis was taken outside her work at the Cancer Research Lab after a double shift. She was taken on the twelfth of April and found the next day also in the woods. Emma Woods was last seen clocking out of the fire station after being on call for the last twenty four hours. She was too found in the woods the next day." JJ finished.

"How come they're always found the next day? The bodies are deep into the wood, why would anyone want to wander that far through in the first place?" Morgan looked up from a piece of paper he was scanning.

"The woods are probably one of the most popular in the area. Milford, Pennsylvania isn't too far from New York and it's quite high up on the tourist hot spot list. Walking through the woods isn't a thing people would think of being suspicious." JJ turned to the map and pointed at the area she was talking about. Morgan nodded in response. "It's probably more suspicious that no one saw anyone dumping a body."

"They were all taken after they'd worked overtime; that isn't a coincidence is it?" Prentiss spoke up.

"Probably not. If the UnSub knew that our victims were workaholics then that would make observing them a lot easier. It looks like the UnSub watched the victim for a considerable amount of time too." Rossi looked at each member in turn.

"The first murder took place between the second and third of April, the second between the twelfth and thirteenth and the third between the twenty second and the twenty third." Hotch spoke, reading off of multiple sheets of paper.

"Could the numbers two, three and ten have some significance? I mean, looking at the dates, a murder always takes place ten days later." Prentiss looked to Hotch.

"It's a possibility. Milford is a small town, which could mean the UnSub's having a hard time finding someone with the right features or that he's already found someone but is trying to determine their routine." Reid explained.

"What about the word calved into their arms?" Rossi turned to JJ. JJ held up a picture of just one pale white arm with trails of deep red blood scattered everywhere, the word 'PROMOTION' engraved into the skin.

"The word 'promotion' was found on each of the victims arms. The M.E suspects the same knife was used on each of the victims and the same knife was also used to stab them in the heart." JJ explained before putting the picture down and falling back onto her chair next to Emily who protectively moved her arm. JJ smirked at her.

"Promotion from what?" Morgan sat back and raised a hand to his chin.

"Or promotion to what?" Reid raised his eyebrows. Everyone looked at him incredulously.

"Don't make us ask Spence." JJ leant forward so she could see around Emily to look at Reid.

"Well, from what I can gather when the UnSub calves the word promotion, it is as if he is giving the promotion to the victims. It's like he is promoting them to death. This could also incorporate their jobs. A teacher, fireman and someone who researches cancer, these jobs are all well respected positions and the UnSub could be highly jealous of these individuals." Reid spoke as if it was the most obvious thing on earth.

"Plug him in; he needs to charge before we land." Prentiss looked to Morgan after a few moments of silence. Reid just looked on confused.

"So what you're saying is he killed them because they had jobs he thought they didn't deserve." JJ shook her head disgusted.

"Yes." Reid stated simply.

"If that's the case, could that also be the reason he targets woman? Especially the stereotype of blonde haired and blue eyed." Morgan leant forward again, suddenly feeling as if they were getting somewhere.

"This confirms our suspicion that the UnSub is male. It also tells us that he's most likely currently in a job that makes him inferior to these women." Rossi clipped his seatbelt together when the seatbelt light turned on.

"It also means we've got five days until the next potential murder." Hotch tightened his lips as the plane began to descend.

"Chief Samson, Jennifer Jareau we spoke on the phone." JJ grabbed the tall man's hand. By now she was used to being hit on by members of the police force they were working with, but just by looking at the smirk on this guy's face, she could tell herself and Prentiss were going to be at the receiving end of plenty of bad pickup lines by the end of this thing.

"I remember, it's good to see you in person." Chief Samson was an alright looking guy, Emily would admit that much. He was probably about six foot four, with black hair, dark eyes and confidence that would make anyone want to slap his pretty-boy face. He was probably in his late thirties and already she could tell he was a 'ladies man'.

"This is Agent Hotchner, Rossi, Morgan, Prentiss and Doctor Reid, is there somewhere we can set up?" JJ smiled politely.

"Of course, we've set up a room for you next to my office. It's a glass partition so if you need me you can just look through." He smiled a seductive smile towards the ladies before turning more to the men and nodding slightly.

"Great." Prentiss smiled through gritted teeth at JJ. They all followed Chief Samson into the room that had been assigned to them.

"Okay, we'll set up and then we'd like to make our first press conference in two hours if that's possible." Hotch turned to face Samson who nodded curtly.

"I'll set it up. Who'll be speaking?"

"Jennifer Jareau she's our media consultant." Hotch spoke with a confused look; wasn't he already supposed to know that?

"Oh yes, sorry. Like I said I'll set it up." He turned on his heel and exited the cosy room.

"I don't like him." JJ spoke to no one in particular while spreading out some case files.

"Doesn't matter, he called us here, we respect him. We're here under his terms." Hotch spoke adamantly.

"I still don't like you going out there Jay." Morgan turned to the blonde, which made everyone else slowly turn to her as well. JJ sighed and dropped the last file she was holding.

"Guys, I'm sure we've been here like two hours ago. I'm JJ remember I'll be fine." She shrugged her shoulder. She was telling the truth, she really was. She wasn't scared; there were plenty of blonde haired, blue eyed authoritable figures around. Not to mention the fact that she was always going to be surrounded by either the police of the FBI. Either way, she was safe.

"Prentiss, keep an eye on her." Hotch looked at Emily, her eyes widened but she nodded once. "Okay, Rossi, Reid we will go to the hotel and check in with everyone's things. Morgan, speak to Samson, see if there was any evidence of where the primary crime scene was. Prentiss, help JJ set up for the press. Meet back here half an hour before the conference." Everyone scattered in their own direction.

The door swung shut behind Morgan. JJ had been stood in the same position since Hotch had told Emily to look after her, her mouth slightly agape in disbelief. Emily didn't really know what to do; she knew JJ had been offended by the prospect of not being able to take care of herself.

"It's okay you know, they're just being like older siblings, too protective…"

"This is a gun right? They didn't give me one of them ones that blow bubbles?" She spun to face Emily, pointing at her gun on her hip. Emily's mouth opened then closed then opened again, turned her head to the right and narrowed her eyes.

"Yes…" She guessed that was the answer JJ was looking for. "As far as I know it's a real gun. You could fire a few rounds at Samson to make sure."

**Reviews make unicorns fly...**


	2. Chapter 2

**Oh wow! The response i got for the last chapter was amazing. Thank you so much! I'd love it if you enjoyed this chapter as much as the last! It also appears that everyone is excited that both AJ and Paget are coming back...well who wouldn't be? Anyway, here you go...**

JJ walked out of the police headquarters to be met by hundreds of people with cameras, video cameras and microphones. They all immediately began shouting questions as soon as they saw her. Seriously? They should know that she can't decipher each one of them, she didn't have selective hearing.

Just a typical day at the office.

She stepped up to the booth with Prentiss, Hotch and Rossi behind her.

"Good afternoon. The FBI was called here to help investigate the case of the three recent murders. Firstly, we would like to warn all women matching the description given; blonde hair and blue eyes. We'd also like everyone with a more authoritable job, such as a nurse or a news reporter, to be extra cautious. Secondly, we would inform everyone the FBI will be working very closely with the local police to catch the killer of these three women. Details about the case are being kept under wraps for reasons I am not at liberty to discuss. As soon as I am able to divulge more information the public I will do so accordingly. The FBI believes the suspect is male, most likely in his fifties and be sure to notify the local police if you do happen to come across any suspicious behaviour." JJ smiled at the audience, they were like predators; ready to bark their question at her as soon as she signed off. "That will be all."

Like she'd thought a sudden roar erupted and a line of police officers had to brace themselves as the large group of paparazzi tried to break through. JJ turned and began to walk back into the precinct, Rossi and Hotch followed. Prentiss backed a few steps first surveying the area before joining the convoy.

He stabbed the end of the cigarette on the TV screen. He lifted his hand to the coloured glass and touched it with his index finger and slowly dragged it down.

She was blonde, blue eyed, young. Perfect. The best part; she worked for the FBI. He was going to take her and he was going to make sure she hurt the most. He was going to kill her and then he would turn himself in. The big finale. An FBI agent. He chuckled with laughter.

He was definitely out doing himself now. He looked at the date in the corner of the screen 28th April he had five days, well four actually, it was almost 8pm he couldn't get much observation in now. He'd start tomorrow; he'd have to take a few days off work but work wouldn't matter once he turned himself in anyway.

He looked at his calendar. There was a ring around the third of May with the words '23 today, Ben'. He looked down and bunched a fist; he snapped his head back up, his piercing eyes staring at one figure in particular. He hammered his hand against the screen once before standing back up.

"I want you."

"Jayje, are you alright? You've been acting weird." Emily looked over at one of her best friends, the other being Garcia, as she set her bag at the foot of her bed. JJ looked up then around and smiled an actual sincere smile.

"I'm fine Em, seriously. Tired I think, even though that was probably the shortest flight I've ever been on I'm exhausted." She laughed. Emily nodded.

"Aahh, I hear that. I could sleep till next year."

"It's April." JJ stated leaning on one hand.

"If you added up the number of hours I've missed due to this job, it'd amount to a year." Emily blinked profusely. JJ's phone began to ring. JJ lifted it closer to her eyes.

"It's Garcia." She directed at Emily.

"Speaker." Emily walked over to JJ's bed and sat opposite her. JJ pressed a button and put the phone on the covers between her and Emily.

"Hey, Garcia." They greeted simultaneously.

"Why, good evening Angels. How are my most favourite agents?" Garcia sounded too chipper as always.

"Don't let Morgan hear you saying that." Emily spoke up.

"We're fine Garcia. Just sat in our hotel room." JJ laughed at Emily. The taller woman tended to lose control of what she was saying when she was tired.

"Aahh, I see. I hope you have twenty four hour protection my delicious vanilla cupcake." Garcia sat back in her spinning chair and fiddled with a rather absurd looking pen.

"Why does everyone think I am totally incapable of looking after myself?" JJ flung her arms out to the side.

"Ha! Don't worry Garcia, I've been assigned to monitor our little princess." Emily leaned across the bed and ruffled JJ's hair before grinning sleepily and moving around the room doing various jobs.

"Good, I'll kick her ass if she gets herself killed."

"Err, her ass is sitting right here." JJ motioned at herself with her, still stretched out, arms.

"Oh honey, we know you can take care of yourself, we'd do the same thing if it was Emily or Reid." Garcia sat forward and began tapping her keyboard.

"Exactly, so stop complaining." Emily ran a hand down the back of JJ's head supportively, before heading over to the bathroom. "I'm gonna get a shower, I'll be out in five." She closed the door and JJ heard the water running soon after.

"So, what are you doing Garcia?" JJ crossed her legs in front of her.

"Oh my sweet, I'm living my life as a closeted technical genius as usual, doing all of your jobs for you." Garcia smirked to herself while she pulled up some security camera footage of the hotel the agents were staying in. She wasn't taking chances. She was able to gain access to the footage of the hallway to their rooms and the footage of the entrance to the hotel.

"You're our saviour." JJ played along.

"Oh my girl, I most definitely am." Garcia put one set of security footage on the highest central right computer screen and the other set on the highest central left. Emily walked out of the bathroom in some slacks.

"She still on the phone?"

"You should know better of me Miss Prentiss." Garcia stood and began aimlessly walking around the room.

"Yeah, I forgot you could talk for America." Emily tossed JJ a clean towel.

"I think Emily's cranky." Garcia sang.

"I think I'm going to hang up on you." Emily made a grab for JJ's phone. JJ quickly swiped it away from her and swung her legs over the opposite side of the bed.

"You've angered a tired FBI agent Garcia." JJ stood her ground as Emily narrowed her eyes and dropped her head to her left a little as if challenging her.

"She could never be angry at me because I love her." Garcia spoke in her most sickly sweet voice. There was silence for a little while.

"Damn you, she knows me too well." Emily pointed her finger at JJ then at JJ's phone. "I'm going to bed." She announced proudly.

"Right, we'll talk to you tomorrow Garcia." JJ held her phone closer to her waiting for a reply.

"Goodnight Angels! Sleep well."

"You too." JJ hung up and threw her phone onto her pillow.

"As if I'm going to sleep." Garcia muttered to herself smiling slyly. "Night watch."

"Right, I'm going for a shower."

"Uhhh." Was all Emily groaned in response.

JJ laughed and threw her pillow at the older agent, which conveniently hit her straight in the face.

"Really?"

**Reviews put the spots on Ladybugs...**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! Thank you so much for the awesome response to the last chapter. Don't hesitate to review, i know some people don't have time as such but it really helps people evolve as writers...Anyway, away from that deep crap. here's the next chapter, i'm still keeping you in suspense. 'Cause i'm annoying like that.**

"What's wrong with her?" Morgan mumbled to JJ while looking Prentiss up and down. JJ smirked.

"Didn't sleep much."

"Why?"

"Our beds are like pieces of concrete! Aren't yours?" JJ turned to him hands on hips.

"Well, yeah, sure. I'm a guy Jayje; I could sleep hanging upside down, outside, on a rainy day." He shrugged like it wasn't a big deal.

"Whatever." She turned back to her files.

"New lead." Hotch announced as he and Samson entered the temporary bullpen.

"What we got?" Rossi turned to the whiteboard Hotch had stood in front of.

"Possible primary crime scene." Hotch answered simply before turning and putting up a picture.

"Yeah, I can see that." Morgan nodded, understanding why the UnSub would want to use that location. "It's quiet, isolated, where is it?"

"That is where I come in my delicious honey bear." Garcia's voice sounded before she appeared on the big screen next to the whiteboard.

"Baby girl, what're we looking at here?" Morgan grinned genuinely at the sight of his favourite technical analyst.

"Well, as you can see here, it's a crap hole." Numerous pictures of the shack were brought up on the screen where Garcia's face had previously been. The small house was torn up most likely from bad weather. It looked old and windows were boarded up. There was a padlock on the front door.

"Apparently, two tourists from Manhattan heard some commotion coming from this direction after they got lost and wandered into a 'No Tourist Area'. They didn't initially report it because they thought it might have been some animals in the area." Samson rested his hands on his uniform belt. "It used to be used for storage; chainsaws, rakes, a small communications centre for patrolling park officers. That part of the forest if off limits to the public and usually people shouldn't be able to get in or out without being picked up by the local authorities."

"It was abandoned after ten years of use due to a bad storm that tore it apart. The town didn't have the funds to rebuild it and purchase new equipment." Hotch looked around the room at each member.

"How far away is it from our dump sites?" Reid stepped forward to look at Samson. Samson opened his mouth to answer but Garcia got there first.

"The three women were dumped within a hundred feet of each other, but the communications office is at least two miles away from the furthest one." Garcia looked up to the team. Samson looked a little angry which made Garcia smile brightly.

"Two miles, that's a hell of a long way to carry a body." Rossi leant back on the table in the centre of the room.

"Maybe he had help." Samson crossed his arms.

"That doesn't support our theory." Reid walked over the whiteboard next to the big screen. He motioned to some writing on the board as he spoke. "This case seems very personal. The concept of having a partner would seem more like a burden than a source of help. If anything the UnSub wants to carry the bodies that far. It gives him a sense of accomplishment."

"Do you remember when we were on the plane and we were talking about how the UnSub thought the women he killed didn't deserve the jobs they had?" JJ looked straight ahead but at no one in particular, it was as if she was working something out in her head. "Well maybe this is his way of saying; even though he doesn't have their job, he can certainly do his job better than any of the victims can do theirs." JJ nodded to herself before actually looking at any of the team.

Silence.

"When did she pass her profiling exam?" Garcia raised an eyebrow. JJ gave her a 'seriously?' look before turning her attention back to the group.

"That's a good theory, but it's just that; a theory. We can't determine that without more information, most likely from the UnSub himself." Rossi smiled at JJ, who nodded appreciatively back.

"Okay, let's go check this out." Hotch announced putting down the picture of the shack.

There was a unanimous nod before the team left the room one by one.

"So, do you usually come out in the field?" Samson spoke quietly to JJ as they trudged through leaves and mounds of twigs. JJ threw a sideways glance at him and sighed inwardly.

"Yeah, I'm not just a person that talks to the media. I actually contribute." She meant that to sound harsh and strong but it came out a near whisper. They were about half a mile from the shack, unfortunately they couldn't drive all the way there because one; it was a protected area and two; there was no way in hell the SUVs would get through the trees and the constant up, down of the ground would more than likely destroy the suspension system.

Prentiss was the last one in the line with JJ and Samson together in front of her and the other men in front of them. A uniform lead the way. Prentiss thought back, his name might be Jackson. She heard Samson trying to make conversation with her blonde friend. She smirked to herself at the annoyance JJ was probably experiencing right now.

"So, the FBI huh? Big dogs, guys on top." Samson wriggled his eyebrows. "How's it feel? You're technically my boss." He lifted one corner of his mouth. Prentiss nearly choked with laughter.

"Nope, technically he's your boss." JJ nodded her head at Hotchner. Samson's facial expression drooped.

"Oh."

Suddenly the leaders came to a halt.

"We're here Sir." Jackson turned to Hotch, who nodded appreciatively.

"Thank you. Okay, Reid, JJ take the back." They nodded. "Morgan, Prentiss, Chief Samson you're all with me." They all drew their guns. "Rossi, could you and Officer Jackson clear the surrounding area?" It wasn't really a question but an order. Rossi nodded and took off with Officer Jackson in tow.

Hotch nodded at Reid who only nodded back in response before he and JJ hopped a fallen tree truck and disappeared around the back of the shack. Samson pulled out some bolt cutters and waited for Hotch's signal. After a few seconds he nodded.

Samson quickly snapped the padlock on the door and flung the door open before standing back and letting the agents enter first, he followed after Prentiss, gun drawn.

The first room they came to was what looked like to be the communications room with broken, old devices that were rusting and had plants growing through them. There was nothing even remotely screaming out primary crime scene at first glance. The agents all walked slowly around the room, Prentiss held back to maintain this room before the other three men came to the only other door. Morgan stood one side while Hotch grabbed the handle and pushed the door open.

So the shack was more like a TARDIS. It looked so small from the outside but once you were inside there were at least four decently sized rooms. Samson and Hotch cleared the third room while Morgan stayed behind to look around the second like Prentiss had done with the first room.

"Clear!" Morgan heard Reid yell from somewhere further on in the shack. Soon after came two more 'Clears!' from what he could decipher as JJ and Hotch. Morgan holstered his weapon.

Prentiss cautiously stepped over a flipped chair and holstered her weapon when she heard the 'Clears!' This place was an absolute wreck, seriously. The room she was stood in was a mess of leaves, turned over furniture and useless technical equipment. She'd successfully made her way around the room and back to the door, trying to find anything that would show signs of a struggle but in all honesty, the place was a mess.

She sighed and looked out the door they had previously flung open. Wait, was that?

"Hey!" She yelled grabbing her weapon from its holster and running back the way they had come.

There was a man, she was sure of it, just peaking around a tree at the top of the hill. The shack rested in a ditch between two hills. Prentiss was at a definite disadvantage. How was she meant to get to the top of that hill, in heels, before the hooded figure took off?

She eventually reached the peak and looked around gun out in front of her, her breath causing her chest to rise and fall continuously. She turned left and right if anything, nervously. The hooded figure had vanished. How could he just vanish? They were in an open forest.

"Prentiss!"

She turned to see the team running after her. She turned back to the clearing; desperately searching for any sign of the figure she'd seen watching them.

"What did you see?" Morgan reached the top first breathing helplessly. She didn't answer immediately, still searching.

"Damn!" Prentiss kicked a trunk and turned around lowering her gun.

Shit! She had seen him. That was sloppy, he was getting carried away. He'd never been seen before. It was her fault! That blonde he was after, it was her fault.

He threw his hoody in a plastic bag and set it alight before digging a hole, dumping the ashes in and filling it back in.

What was he going to do now? Surely she couldn't have identified his features though. She was all the way at the bottom of the hill and he was hooded for god's sake. He shook his head.

He'd be fine. But now, he was angry. He punched the first mirror he came to when he slammed the door. He kept making stupid decisions, first following those FBI agents to his hide out and now punching mirrors, drawing blood that could easily identify him. He grabbed the mirror with an old bed sheet and wrapped it in it before storing it in behind a cupboard.

He dosed the gash in his had with sterilizer before pressing a cloth to it.

There was something about this girl that made him do stupid things. He smiled and laughed.

"Oh, Charlotte. She's you." He stood and walked over to the TV, slouching in his armchair.

At least he'd worked out something today. He pulled out a sheet of paper from a fold in the back of the chair.

22nd Target down  
>23rd Body found<br>24th None  
>25th None<br>26th Possible target at Airport  
>27th Target inaccessible<br>28th FBI Agent  
>29th Long hours, Harrods Hotel, room thirteen; shared with other female FBI Agent<p>

He pulled out a pen and began to scribble notes.

29th Long hours, Harrods Hotel, room thirteen; shared with other female FBI Agent, usually works at back of team, carries gun – right hip, doesn't often operate without another member of team, take when no one's looking at night – second of May

He smiled to himself contently before sliding the piece of paper back into the invisible, to the untrained eye, fold in the chair.

Just three days left.

**Reviews put the Lady on the Gaga**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey, so, i hope you're all still enjoying this. I know it's dragging on you just have to wait about three or so more chapters till it all kicks off, i promise. I just wanted it to be as close to the series as possible you know? Anyway, i hope you enjoy this as much as i enjoyed writing it...**

"Tell us again." Rossi leaned forward in his chair to rest his elbows on the table in the make shift bull pen. Prentiss sighed opposite Rossi. She put her hands on her face and slowly dragged them back through her hair.

"I was standing at the front door, the one we'd come through," She looked to Hotch and Samson as if for confirmation. "I just looked up and saw him. He was hiding behind that big tree at the top of the west side hill, he was in a black hoody so I couldn't see anything other than his skin colour, which may I just add, is white." She pointed at Reid who added it to their profile on the whiteboard.

"I ran up the hill as fast as I could, wrecking a perfectly good set of heels," Prentiss looked sadly down at her feet that were now clad in a pair of JJ's flats. JJ smiled enjoying Emily's over dramatic monologue. "But when I got to the top he was gone, seriously, you can see for like a mile when you get to the top of that hill right? He just vanished. I'm fast even in heels, running up a hill, I'm fast," Prentiss placed her palms flat on the table in front of her. "He shouldn't have been able to get that far away in the twenty seconds or so it took me to get up there."

"Why was he even there?" Reid pondered to himself.

"What do ya mean kid?" Morgan looked to the boy genius who was tapping the capped pen on his chin.

"I mean, why was he there? The time scale is all wrong, unless, we're wrong about the communications centre being the primary crime scene." Everyone could tell he was about to carry on so didn't bother interrupting. He turned to the whiteboard.

"If this was our primary crime scene not only would we have found more blood but also the sanctuary of where our UnSub works. The murders take place at about midnight on the day with the number two in it such as the second or the twelfth, the M.E confirmed that. Why would the UnSub be at the centre, if it is our primary crime scene, on the twenty ninth? He has no business being there until the second of May." Reid turned back to face the group after scribbling numbers onto the whiteboard and pointing to them as he had spoken.

"He has a point." Samson nodded.

"Maybe he was coming to set up for the next victim but then got caught off guard when he saw us there." Morgan tried to make sense of the situation.

"I don't think so." Rossi began. "The UnSub plans the murders carefully, observing for days before putting his plan into action. Even though he takes days to work everything out, he is doing just that; stalking the victims and working out their routines, planning when the best time is to take them. He wouldn't waste time setting up his torture palace."

"So he's following our investigation then." Prentiss voiced her opinion.

"That's more likely. He's going to have to be working twice as hard to follow our investigation and his victim but that way he knows where we'll be and when we will be there." Hotch stood from his seat.

"Garcia." He spoke in a commanding tone.

"Yes, our fearless leader?" Her face popped up on the large screen. "Were you able to connect to the wireless camera we set up outside the connections centre?" Garcia pulled a face before continuing.

"Well, yes, to a degree."

"What do you mean Cia?" Morgan turned to the screen.

"Connecting to a wireless camera, in the middle of a forest, that's in the middle of nowhere isn't something an average techy could pull off." Garcia tapped a few keys on her computer.

"You're not an average techy though." Morgan smiled. Garcia looked up and narrowed her eyes seductively.

"My beautiful statue of greatness, you seem to know me too well." With that she pulled up two camera feeds; one of the front entrance and one of the back door to the shack. However the feed went fuzzy and then skipped a few seconds.

"Garcia, what's happening?" JJ pointed at the screen. Garcia looked at her own screen and sighed heavily.

"Like Morgan said, I'm good but the signal isn't. Every five or so minutes it loses signal and I have to reboot it quickly. It doesn't affect the feed that much; it jumps a few seconds or goes to snow for a short time but I'll keep an eye on it." Garcia looked back up to the group.

"Thanks Garcia."

"Farewell. Be safe." She punched a button with her pen before the screen went black. "Right." She announced to herself before tapping many keys. The sets of camera footage then appeared to the left of the footage of the hallway to the hotel the agents were staying in. "Double night watch."

The BAU team stood opposite the local officers in their precinct. Prentiss stepped forward first.

"We believe the next murder will occur between the days of May the second and third. The UnSub usually takes his victims after a long shift at their work place usually between the times of 5 and 8 pm." Prentiss saw some of them making notes and nodded before Hotch stepped forward.

"Unfortunately, the UnSub is keeping quite a close eye on the investigation and most likely knows where we'll be and when so he'll be trying to avoid us or trying to inject himself into the investigation in some way." Reid then stepped forward.

"We've determined that the UnSub is in his fifties, white and has an average work placement that makes him feel inferior to the victims he's choosing. We believe he's choosing his victims because of their superior jobs. Hair and eye colour may either be to do with a personal experience or due to the stereotype."

"We know the UnSub must have another victim in mind by now otherwise he wouldn't be able to work out their routine in time. Another person is in danger and we have to try and find him before he takes her." Morgan paced behind Hotch, Prentiss and Reid. Finally Rossi looked up and around the room.

"We would like to know if there are any other case files of deaths of blonde haired and blue eyed women with advanced jobs in previous years. Because of the professionalism the UnSub is displaying we believe he has seen or maybe committed murder before."

"You heard them." Samson spoke boldly which sent the precinct into red alert.

"What are we doing now?" Reid looked to Hotch. Hotch stood, hands on hips for a minute before answering.

"Chief Samson, Reid, Rossi and I will head back to the Communications Centre. I'm almost positive that's our primary crime scene, we just need to find the evidence to back up the theory. Morgan, Prentiss, JJ I'd like each of you to interview the family of each of the victims. One set each." Hotch looked to each member as he said their name.

"Okay." JJ nodded.

"Meet back here when you're done." Hotch signalled for everyone to disperse. JJ, Morgan and Emily stayed put.

"Okay, I'll take Emma Woods." Morgan, being second in command spoke up. "Emily, you take Lindsay Evans and JJ; Jackie Davis." The two female agents nodded.

"Okay." Prentiss put her hand out in front of herself. "Break!" She raised her hand above her head before grabbing her coat and wandering out of the precinct.

"I worry about her." JJ collected her coat.

"I worry about you, JJ." Morgan spoke seriously.

"Stop, okay? Just…..stop." JJ didn't mean to sound so pissed off, but to be frank, she was. "I'm just as capable of looking after myself as you are of yourself." Morgan shook his head.

"JJ you need to take a step back for a second. Look at this from my point of view." He put his hands out earnestly. She shook her head and began heading for the door. "Jayje!" He called after her but she'd already opened the door and left.

"This place is a junk heap." Rossi acknowledged allowed after tripping over a broken stool.

"You can say that again. After the storm back in 2001, the precinct tried to raise the money to get it rebuilt but the public hardly even knew this place existed. They didn't think it was necessary seen as they always followed what the signs said in the forest anyway." Samson accepted a pair of gloves Reid had handed him.

"How should we do this? Room by room, or one guy to a room?" Rossi looked to Hotch who was examining what seemed to be the remains of a microwave.

"Definitely room by room. More eyes and less space to cover per person." Hotch replied.

"Okay." Reid turned and began sifting through various apparatus.

It'd been about an hour and a half before they reached the third room.

"This is getting annoying." Rossi spoke as they moved into, what appeared to be the luxury area of the centre. To say the least it was the most unaffected room. There was a grotty old sofa that had numerous weeds growing out of it, a small table stood in the centre of the room. There were a few cupboards around the room, the hinges were dangling and the leaves scattered the space inside, Reid noted probably from the window at the opposite side of the room.

The four started inspecting parts of the room precariously. It'd been about half an hour until Hotch made a curious 'huh?' noise. The other men turned to him. He was crouched in between the sofa and the table, his gloved hand dragging across the rug.

"Hotch?" Rossi tried to understand what Hotch was seeing. Hotch stood.

"Reid." Hotch pointed at the opposite end of the table. Reid understood, the two lifted the table and moved it to the other end of the room. Rossi understood what Hotch was getting at now.

"Hey, Samson. Help me with this." He heaved at one end of the sofa while Samson did the same at the opposite side. Finally Hotch carefully rolled the carpet back on itself.

"A trapdoor." Reid looked up and to Samson. Samson just shook his head while staring at the door in the floor.

"I didn't even know that existed." Samson looked disappointed in himself. Hotch put his hand on his sidearm as he pulled at the handle on the door. It took a little effort but eventually he got it open. They all quickly made their way down the stairs guns drawn. Eventually Samson pulled a chord that lit a single light bulb dangling from the ceiling.

"Oh my god."

**Reviews put the stars in the sky**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey! Thank you to all those who reviewed, alerted, favourited ect. You REALLY make my day. Anyway, so i've worked it out, i'll post one chapter every day up until the action starts when i'll post one every two days maybe. 'Cause i'm mean like that. Oh yeah, i forgot to do this before...**

**Disclaimer: I own my imagination and a few pairs of socks. But definitely not Criminal Minds, i think i'd ruin it with all that i'd put JJ and Emily through :)**

Prentiss knocked on the door to the Evans household for the third time. She was getting impatient. She knew someone was home; all the lights were on, which was weird considering it was still light out. She'd heard someone moving around inside as well.

"Mr and Mrs Evans, I'm Agent Prentiss with the FBI." She called. After a moment of silence she heard a bottle drop. 'Oh great.' Prentiss thought rolling her eyes. 'They're drunk.' A second later the door was thrown open and there in front of her stood a very, very drunk Mr Evans.

"What d'you want?" He slurred before taking another swig of his Jack Daniels.

'Fantastic.' Emily inwardly groaned.

"I'm Agent Prentiss with the FBI, I was wondering if I could have a word with you and Mrs Evans." Prentiss stated.

"She doesn't live here anymore." He carelessly mumbled.

"Where can I find her?"

"She moved to England." Prentiss' eyes widened.

"Can I speak to you for a minute then?" He just turned and walked into his house leaving the door open for Prentiss. 'Out here would've been fine.' She groaned before moving her way into the house.

"Just a few questions about your daughter, Lindsay." She found him in, what Prentiss worked out to be, the living room. Bottles littered the couch and the floor.

"I already told the police everything." He growled quietly.

"I know but I'm from the BAU I just need to hear it for myself. Did Lindsay have a boyfriend?" Prentiss stood at the entrance to the living room while Mr Evans walked around turning a few bottles upside down before finding a half full one and taking a gulp.

"No, her other half was her job." He fell back into an arm chair.

"Okay." She wrote something down in her pad. "What about her life outside work? What'd she do for fun?" Mr Evans chuckled.

"Fun? She didn't know the meaning of the word. Work, work a bit more. Go home, work. Maybe sleep. Then head back to work." He threw his bottle down next to the chair.

"What about friends?"

"Had none." The answer was short and simple. It wasn't like she didn't feel sympathy for the older man, but this definitely wasn't helping. Drinking his life away. It made Emily sad.

"Did she say anything to you about being followed or watched maybe?"

"She hardly spoke to me. She spoke to her mother every once in a while but she tried to keep herself away from ties to people. She didn't like the concept of any relationship." He laughed then looked down. "Stupid girl."

"Okay, thank you Sir. If I have any more questions, I'll contact you." Emily nodded at the man before making a break for the door.

"Shut the door behind you!" He yelled after her. She did as he ordered. She then pulled out her cell.

"JJ, I'm done what about you?" Emily held her phone between her ear and her shoulder as she fiddled with her car keys.

"Yeah, me too. I'm heading back now. I'll tell you what I found when you get back." JJ responded.

"Okay, see you then." With that she hung up.

"I think I'm gonna throw up." Samson ran back up the steps and out of the building.

There was silence as the three remaining men surveyed the room not really moving, to taken back to speak.

"This is so wrong." Reid spoke after what seemed like hours.

There was a long rectangular table in the middle of the room with a bar at the top and bottom to tie the wrists and ankles to. It was drenched with blood. The walls were pure concrete with numerous blood splatter patterns on each and every one. On the far wall there was a rack. On it lay a large assortment of knives, straps, bats and metal objects. All of them were covered in blood. Then on its own, in the corner of a room in a cardboard box, lay a large blunt knife. It was absolutely pristine.

"I'll call in the CSIs." Hotch announced before too leaving the room.

"This UnSub is so confusing." Reid began carefully manoeuvring his way back to the stairs.

"What are you thinking Reid?" Rossi also headed towards the stairs.

"He's so quiet. Stalking and observing the victims for days, not making any move on them until his chosen day." Reid began advancing the stairs. "Then when he abducts them, he brings them here and tortures them to no end. He's so violent and messy. It's like he has an alter ego when he's in this room with the female subject."

"I see what you're saying. Come on we'll head back to the precinct." Hotch stood above the trap door waiting for them.

"What about the crime scene?" Rossi asked. Hotch pointed to the pale looking Chief.

"He'll wait till the CSIs get here."

Rossi nodded before the three headed out to the forest.

"Hey, listen…"

"It's forgotten Derek." JJ smiled at him when she and Emily entered the bull pen together. He smiled with relief.

"Oohh, what's forgotten?" Emily grinned at the sound of gossip.

"Nothing, Em." JJ laughed at her friend before sitting next to Morgan.

"I'm never around when anything fun happens." Emily pouted a little. Morgan and JJ shook their heads with joyous smiles on their faces.

"We found the primary crime scene." Hotch announced as he, Rossi and Reid thundered in through the glass doors. "Garcia."

"Present!" She appeared on the screen, supporting a lime green dress and numerous rings and necklaces.

"The CSIs sent some photos to you, can you put them up?" Hotch spoke toward the screen.

"Sure, let me just find them…oh my." She stuttered. "This is horrible." She stared at one of her computer screens for a while until she remembered what she was meant to be doing.

"Um, here." Many photos appeared on the screen.

JJ and Emily's eyes widened and JJ felt her stomach turn her smiling soon turned into a grimace.

"This guy is a psychopath." JJ finally spoke, her voice laced with sickness.

"On the contrary, he's anything but." Reid sat in the seat opposite JJ. JJ swung her head toward him with an incredulous look on her face.

"You have to be kidding me."

"He knows exactly what he's doing. He hasn't got a mental illness, this is most definitely revenge." Reid spoke matter-of-factly.

"You have to find this guy." Garcia sounded behind the pictures on the screen.

"Look at this." Rossi move past Hotch and pointed to the cardboard box in the corner of the room with the shining, like new, knife. Garcia enlarged the image.

"This is the only thing in the room that showed evidence of cleaning. We believe this is the knife used to create the final wounds on the arms and the murder weapon." Hotch nodded along then took over.

"Its position, away from the other weapons, tells us that the UnSub respects this knife more than the others."

"Fingerprints?" Prentiss leant forward lacing her fingers.

"The CSIs are still working on it but so far they haven't found anything, even on the other weapons." Hotch's phone began to beep and he stepped away from the group.

"This guy's freaking me out now." Prentiss murmured. Hotch turned back to the group.

"That was Samson; his team found a case file he thinks we should take a look at. It'll be with us tomorrow. For now, we'll go back to the hotel and get some rest for tomorrow."

"How come you're not scared Jayje?" Emily sat cross legged on her bed facing JJ who was mirroring Emily.

"How come you aren't?" She countered.

"I am." She put pressure on the word 'am' and looked down and to her left. "This guy's good, and it scares me that we might not be as good as he is."

JJ's gaze softened as she stood and plonked herself down next to her friend. She looped her left arm through Emily's right arm. Emily dropped her head onto JJ's shoulder and sighed angrily.

"We'll get him. No one's better than us." She spoke in a superhero like voice. Emily laughed under her breath. "Oh." JJ jumped up. "That's my phone." She threw back her covers and searched under her pillow. "Ah!" She popped her head up from behind the bed, a victorious smile on her face as she held her phone in the air.

"Let me guess, Garcia." Emily raised an eyebrow before snuggling down under her covers. JJ smiled and answered the phone.

"Hey, Garcia You're on speaker."

"Listen to me, you have to get Hotch and the boys and go outside right now!"

**Reviews keep Kesha from feeling like P Diddy**


	6. Chapter 6

**So, i wanna apologise to some of you, i told you i'd update yesterday but i didn't. My friends decided to whisk me away to a bowling alley. I lost, badly. Anyway, most of you also wanna kill me due to the cliffhanger. Well here is what's on the other side of the cliff...**

Prentiss' eyes shot open. She tossed her cover aside and grabbed some shoes.

"What? Why?" JJ's brow furrowed.

"I have security footage up of your hotel and this guy's standing there. Literally, just standing there." Garcia panicked.

"So?" JJ smiled a little. Garcia was being paranoid as usual.

"He's standing there in a mask; a plain white mask, staring at the camera. Holding a knife" Garcia's voice wavered a little toward the end. That was enough for JJ to slide on her Converse and run out of the room followed by Prentiss. They started hammering on the boys' room doors.

"What?" Morgan uttered rubbing his eyes. He saw the look of shock and panic on the girls' faces then Hotch also entered the hallway.

"What's going on girls?" Rossi appeared behind Hotch.

"Garcia!" JJ yelled at her phone. After Garcia explained the situation again everyone was sprinting toward the doors to the Hotel.

"Guy's he's running!" Garcia shouted over JJ's phone.

"Go." Hotch pointed at Morgan and Prentiss. Ignoring the looks from the hotel staff, the two agents stepped cautiously out of the doors followed by the rest of the team. "Where'd he go Garcia?" Hotch shouted towards JJ's phone.

"Around the corner on your left, I can't see any further than that. There's like, no security cameras in this town." Garcia sounded stressed.

About ten minutes later all the agents reassembled at the doors of the hotel.

"What the hell is this guy doing?" Morgan shook his head as they headed into the lobby.

"I actually don't know." Reid looked upset.

"Don't worry Spence, he's probably trying to freak us out or something." JJ put an arm around his waist comfortingly.

"Why would he do that though? Why us? Why not go and harass the local PD?" Morgan leaned against his and Reid's room door.

"Because we're new in this town. We're the only ones that can actually find him. He's scared of us." Rossi explained, hoping he was right.

"Get some sleep; we'll see what we can do tomorrow." Hotch looked at each of the team with a protective glance before heading to his room shortly followed by Rossi.

"Night." Reid mumbled still upset that this UnSub was messing with his head and he was having trouble deciphering him. Prentiss and JJ waved them into their room before retiring to their room.

JJ's phone again began to ring.

"Garcia?" JJ answered rubbing her forehead with tiredness.

"I'm not sleeping till you catch this guy Jennifer Jareau." JJ raised her eyes at Emily.

"Full name terms; someone's in trouble." Emily sang sleepily.

"I didn't do anything!" JJ tied her hair up.

"I'm sorry, let me amend my previous sentence. I'm not sleeping till you catch this guy Jennifer and Emily." Garcia's voice was stern, almost angry.

"Now who's in trouble?" JJ shot at Emily who just waved her arm in the air from under her covers after grumbling something that sounded like 'don't make me come over there'.

"I'll see you tomorrow Garcia." JJ giggled.

"Fine." Then JJ heard a dial tone. Her jaw was slightly slackened by the bluntness of her friend's goodbye. This UnSub was really getting to everyone.

JJ looked around the room, studying each face. She was no profiler, but she could tell everyone was tired beyond belief. Emily looked the worse. JJ smiled sadly at her. She was angry that Hotch had burdened Emily with the task of 'looking after her'. Hotch and Rossi showed their tiredness the least; their heads always in the job. Reid and Morgan were showing signs of drowsiness but as always they pushed it to the back of all importance.

"This is the case file my people found." Samson stood at the head of the table with a case file in his hand. He began handing out sheets. "Charlotte and Ben Stone."

"Ben? We've didn't think the UnSub was after males." Hotch looked from a sheet of paper to Samson.

"You'll have to trust me on this one Agent Hotchner." He waited for the nod from his temporary boss until he carried on. "Okay, Ben was only ten when he died, it was an accident. He was home alone when he fell down the stairs. Charlotte matches the victim's description; blonde haired and blue eyed, also in her thirties. Charlotte was Ben's mother. When she went home from an extra-long shift at her law offices she found him. She was never the same afterwards; the whole neighbourhood blamed her for his death. She was never home and often she would have to call the boy's father to babysit. James, the boy's father, lived an hour away from the town and often had to travel nearly every day to see him." All of the BAU agents were following but weren't exactly sure where this was going.

"The fact is, the day after Ben's death, Charlotte went straight back to work. The whole town was in disbelief. However, exactly ten days later she killed herself. She stabbed herself in the heart. The ex-husband James found her."

Something then clicked in Reid's head.

"Hold on." He stood and hurried over to the whiteboard. "Ten." He spoke quietly to himself. "When was Ben born and when did he die?"

Samson flipped through the file.

"Um, born May the third 1988, died May the twentieth 1998."

Reid scribbled more numbers on to the board.

"Today's the thirtieth of April right?" Reid asked the group while still writing on the board.

"Yeah." Prentiss answered before looking at Morgan who just shrugged.

"I've got it." Reid lowered his hand from the board almost smiling at himself.

"What?" Hotch tilted his head.

"I understand his logic; I know how he's using his numbers." Reid exclaimed turning, almost excitedly to the team. Everyone else seemed to brighten up at the thought of a breakthrough.

"So, the murders take place ten days apart, correct? Well I believe this has to do with Ben's age. I also believe the days he chooses to murder the victims are related to his age. Ben was ten when he died, explaining why the UnSub takes ten days till he murders another person. I believe the UnSub chose the days he did because those days would be the age of Ben now." Reid explained it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Sorry, what?" Samson stood back trying to figure out what Reid had just explained.

"The victims are murdered on the second and third days, for example murdered on the twelfth, found on the thirteenth. Are you with me?" Reid waited for confirmation before carrying on. "If you add up the number of years from his death to now, Ben would be exactly twenty three on the third of May. The day the next body is due to be found." Reid smiled. JJ gave him a thumbs up which made his smile even brighter.

"Is he for real?" Samson asked Prentiss, while Hotch and Rossi spoke to Reid about his theory.

"He's a genius." Prentiss whispered loudly before standing and making her way over to the brainiac himself.

"So what're we saying here? Is James our UnSub?" Morgan spoke thoughtfully.

"Well he's definitely a suspect." Hotch nodded. "Garcia."

"Aye captain." As if by magic, she was always there when you needed her.

"Run a trace on James Stone."

"You'll know when I do." And with that she was gone just as quickly as she'd appeared.

"As far as I can tell James Stone matches the UnSub's profile. Fifties, white, had seen his ex-wife kill herself, lost a son. It's enough to drive anyone crazy." Rossi said flipping though the case file. "He also, most likely blames Charlotte for Ben's death due to her working lifestyle."

"Well we've got two days till the next abduction." Morgan looked at his watch, it was midday and he had nothing to do until Garcia came up with the profile.

"My beautiful people, I have word…"

Morgan grinned, he should've known better than to think she'd take longer than a minute to dig up all she could on a suspect.

**Reviews keep Katy Perry from being eaten by gummy bears...**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello my lovely people! You would not BELIEVE the amazing response i got for the last chapter and, well, the whole story in general. You ALL make me soooo happy it's unreal. *Slow motion cheesy running through field into each others arms clip*. Anyway, i'm pretty sure it's just one or two chapters till the REAL action now guys. Thank you all so much again...**

"What've you got Garcia?" The group migrated round the room so she could see them all and they could all see her.

"James Stone originally lived in Milford for thirty years until his split with wife Charlotte Stone. He then moved to New York to pursue his career as a news anchor, unfortunately that didn't work out and he got stuck with an office job at a call centre. Average person, average lifestyle nothing really pops out until, starting late last month James started using his sick days he'd built up, a whole eighteen of them to exact. Here comes the kicker, he's always used them for the days of the murder, yet he's always been back at work the very next day." Garcia looked up at the team grinning widely.

"I'm putting my chips on this guy."

"Where is he now Garcia? Does he have another house here?" Hotch put his hands on his hips. Garcia began furiously tapping at her keyboard.

"There's no second house that I can find. He's on minimal wages and lives in a small flat in New York so it's unlikely he'll be able to afford a house in Milford. Annnnd…" Garcia stopped speaking while she read something that had just popped up on her screen. "Oh."

"What is it Baby Girl?" Morgan grabbed her attention.

"Well, I was just trying to access his sick day calendar when the page was archived." Garcia stuttered.

"What does that mean?" Morgan pressed on.

"I think, maybe, that means he's just quit his job." Garcia looked back toward the group.

"How're we going to find him?" JJ looked up to Hotch. He sighed heavily before turning.

"The old fashioned way." He motioned for Samson to follow his as he exited the room.

"The old fashioned way?" JJ raised her eyebrows questionably.

Things were going from bad to worse. Things were supposed to be going his way dammit!

He'd stood there that night, hoping desperately that someone would be watching the security footage. He had that part right. The FBI had a continuous stream of outside the hotel.

It was just a trial run. He wanted to see who would come after him. Turns out they all did. They were a team and a well built one at that. They never left one another alone. It annoyed him.

How the hell was he going to get her alone? Never mind that, where the hell was he going to take her. There was 24/7 hour security around his usual place now and they had all his knives and his equipment.

He looked around the garage he was currently living in. Maybe here was good enough he had a baseball bat and a few knives in a draw somewhere, he was sure of it. He nodded to himself. That was one thing sorted.

Now, how was he going to get to her?

"_The FBI asks that if anyone sees this man, they contact the local authorities immediately. We believe this man is a crucial part in the three recent murders we are currently investigating. Please, if you are watching, come forward. This is the FBI appealing to you personally…"_

He turned to the TV, there she was. He laughed an evil laugh. He'd remain in hiding until the day then he'd take her. He'd just take her, right off the streets if he needed to. One way or another she was his.

"Two days."

It was the next day, May the first. They were getting unnervingly close to the murder date. It didn't sit well with any of the agents. Emily and JJ sat in their room waiting for Hotch to call them out. It was nine in the morning. It was unusually late.

"I'm ready to go home." Emily sighed, falling back on her bed.

"We'll get him today, we have to, right?" JJ unplugged her phone from charging and stuffed it in her pocket.

"I hope so. He always seems to be one step ahead of us."

"Well, now we know who he is, he might panic, he might get sloppy, be seen by the public maybe." JJ shrugged.

"What're we doing today?" Emily groaned sitting back up.

"Same as we did yesterday. Try and pin point the guy. It's the only thing left for us to do. Well, that and get a confession." JJ threw Emily a shoe that was lying in the middle of the floor. Emily held the shoe up.

"This isn't mine." JJ turned around and walked over to the shoe in topic.

"Oh, is it mine?"

"Jayje, you need to get some rest. You leant these to me when my heels became flats, you remember?" Emily grabbed JJ's hand and rested the shoe in it.

"I'll get some rest when you get some rest." JJ grinned mischievously, Emily just rolled her eyes.

"You're so annoying." Emily stood and straightened her jacket. "I hope you're gonna be wearing more than that Jay, have you seen the weather?" Emily pushed open the curtains to reveal what looked to be the end of the world. The wind swirled the rain and made it hammer against the window. Trees in the distance were bending to the left under the pressure of the wind. JJ walked over to the window in disbelief.

"Wha…But…." JJ stuttered much to Emily's pleasure. "My hair." JJ whined. Emily pulled out a bobble.

"I call it being prepared." JJ took the elasticated hoop.

"Ladies." Hotch called from outside the room before knocking.

"We're coming." Emily smiled one last time at JJ before opening the door.

"We're all heading down to the precinct are you coming now or do you fancy walking the streets trying to find the UnSub?" Hotch hardly ever did humour but at this point in time, neither JJ nor Emily wanted to take the chance.

"We're coming with you." They said simultaneously.

"We've had no luck. No one's come forward, or seen James." Samson walked the agents into their temporary room. Prentiss shook her head.

"Emily!" JJ shrieked quietly after gasping at the chill of water that had just sprayed her, forgetting the fact that they were supposed to be formal in front of the local authorities. "You totally did that on purpose." JJ pushed through gritted teeth, wiping the water off her face. Hotch shot her a look.

"I will get you back." She whispered out of the corner of her mouth. Prentiss just wore an open smile.

"Now, now girls. Let's not enrage the boss." Morgan walked between the two; the three entered the room together.

"Well isn't that a scrumptious sight." They all looked up at the sound of Garcia's voice. "It's like a chocolate fountain with two strawberries, oohh, or marshmallows." Garcia was obviously referring to JJ, Morgan and Prentiss.

"Hey gorgeous, what you got for me?" Morgan plonked himself down right opposite the computer screen.

"Many things," She smiled almost evilly. "But case-wise not a lot. I have two sightings of James Stone via security footage. But, I can tell you they will be of absolutely no help. The first is of him at a street corner. He's doing absolutely nothing but crossing the road. The second is of him at the entrance to the woods just before the lodge. There's nothing suspicious about it, he's just, there." Garcia put up two stills of the footage she was talking about.

"Well, at least it's a new picture to show the public. Shall I set up another press conference?" Samson looked in Hotch and JJ's direction. Hotch nodded, Samson tightened his lips and removed himself from the room.

"We need to have a team knocking on doors." Hotch looked at Rossi, silently giving him the lead on that part of the investigation.

"Prentiss, Morgan, that's us. We'll gather a few uniforms and work nearer to these locations." Rossi pointed at the two image stills on the screen. The other two agents nodded and stood exiting the room swiftly.

"Reid, are you positive James Stone is the UnSub?" Hotch looked to the younger agent who was deep in thought. "Reid?"

"Garcia, when was that footage recorded?" Reid stood and faced the whiteboard, he now claimed, to be his.

"They were both recorded on the twenty ninth. Wasn't that the day he was standing outside your hotel?"

"Exactly what I was thinking." Reid raised a hand to his chin. "He's been so careful before, why would he let himself be seen on security footage all of a sudden?" Reid turned to Hotch and JJ.

"He's right; James had never been caught on footage before we got here." Garcia took down the footage stills so the three could see her.

"Ben Stone's birthday would've been on the third of May. He would've been twenty three." Reid went over the facts in his head.

"He's using an awful lot of effort just to get us to notice him." JJ offered. Reid's head snapped up and he looked at her quizzically. "What?" Her eyes widened at Hotch, wondering if she'd said something wrong.

"That's it. It's his last effort."

"You mean his last one?" Hotch leaned forward in his chair.

"Yes, as in, he is planning the big finale. One more murder before he's done. He's not as bothered about being seen on footage that no one's watching because he's going to turn himself in after he completes his final task." Reid noted this down on the whiteboard for the others to see if they happened to wander in they'd see their development.

"We need to find him before tomorrow." JJ stood abruptly with purpose. "Someone's in real danger."

**Reviews will make September come faster...**


	8. Chapter 8

**YES! This is the last chapter before the action kicks off, don't worry. I'm pretty sure you all hate me though. **  
><strong>I'm in pain right now, yes, the pain is from Criminal Minds withdrawl. It's sad, i know. I'm watching it from the beginning 'cause i hadn't seen right from the start but i hope it just goes really quickly and September hurries up! As always thank you to my lovely reviewers! I love you! Also thanks to all that favourited and alerted!<strong>

They'd been relentless, working harder than usual, trying to find someone who was simply invisible. Garcia had been skimming through the little surveillance footage the town had offered but had so far, come up with nothing.

Reid had been staring at the whiteboard for what seemed like most of the afternoon. He was angry, he knew he'd missed something but he couldn't find it. No matter how hard he squinted, his brain just wouldn't function, or, wouldn't function like the UnSub's did.

Prentiss, Morgan and Rossi hadn't returned back from their house calls yet but guessing from the lack of phone calls from any of the individuals in question, Hotch understood that they hadn't found anything either.

Samson has spent most of his time and effort trying to arrange another press release. Eventually he'd succeeded and had it arranged for eight o clock. More and more media companies were getting interested in the story and Samson had to deny or grant permission to case details before finally notifying all the companies he needed to.

Hotch went through the notes JJ, Morgan and Prentiss had collected from the interviews with the parents of the victims. From what he could decipher, they were all very similar. Work addicts that didn't really have time for family and friends and if they did, the least time possible was spent with them. They helped, to an extent. It added information to the victimology but none of the parents had heard their daughter mention being followed or watched.

JJ decided it would be best to start working on her speech for the next press conference. Most of the information she was going to be divulging was similar to what had been said in previous conferences but now they had a new picture and an urgent warning.

Just as JJ finished writing the doors to the precinct flew open. About six uniforms shrugged their drenched coats off before heading towards the locker rooms. Followed them were Morgan, Rossi and Prentiss. JJ couldn't help but giggle childishly at the way Morgan had a V shaped wet patch on his shirt where his coat had covered him. Her eyes then drifted to Rossi whose hair was plastered to his forehead. JJ knew this wasn't the time to be making jokes but these three looked like they'd stood under a waterfall for a few hours. They walked into the room where JJ, Hotch and Reid were.

"Did you guys know it's raining?" Morgan wiped his forehead before doing the same to the rest of his head.

"You guys look wet." Reid provided. Even Rossi shot him a sceptical look.

"Hey Jayje?" JJ looked from Reid up to Emily who shook her head. JJ gasped and moved the quickest she ever had to the other side of the room.

"What the hell? You did that to me like eight hours ago, you can't do it twice in one day." JJ wiped off the spray she'd received from Emily's straggly hair.

"Hahaa." Emily smiled openly. "I can because you got to stay in here when I had to go out there." Emily pointed at the windows where the rain was still falling heavily.

"Did you find anything?" Hotch asked ignoring the drama that was going on besides him. Rossi looked down and shook his head, a little gentler than Prentiss had done before hand.

"No, nothing. No one has seen him or anything suspicious in the neighbourhood." Rossi thumped into the chair opposite Hotch, defeated.

"We've hit a brick wall." Hotch mumbled under his breath.

"Um Agent Jareau, we're ready for you." Samson breathlessly said as he quickly entered then exited the room. JJ stood and left the room without such as a look to anyone else, she was too deep in her own thoughts.

"I actually don't know what to do." Prentiss' head fell back over the back of the chair.

"There's something, I swear…" Reid spoke to himself. It was screaming at him, he knew it. It was right there in front of him but he was just too smart to see the simple things. "Morgan." He pulled the taller agent into the position he was previously in, standing in front of the whiteboard. "What do you see?"

Morgan looked the board up and down, shaking his head as he went.

"It's all numbers, the facts. I don't know what to do with them." Morgan looked at Reid helplessly. Emily joined Morgan, maybe a pair of not-as-genius-like people could find something they needed.

"Well, what about the primary crime scene? The place he usually takes his victims?" Prentiss stuck her bottom lip out thoughtfully.

"What about it? We've gone over it so many times now, there's nothing left to find." Rossi spread his arms out in a contradicting manner.

"Well yeah," Prentiss weighed the options by tilting her head left and right. "But what about his last victim? Now he has nowhere to take them. We've taken all his methods of torture. We've taken away his soundproof cell. He has to start from scratch."

"So he has to find another place to work." Morgan nodded along.

"Yeah, sure, but we already knew that." Rossi again shot her down. Prentiss held her hand up in a 'stop' sign.

"This means, he's going to be very unprepared. If he does get to the next victim before we do then at least we'll have some warning."

"Yeah, if someone reports them missing." Morgan wasn't sure if Prentiss' theory was as solid as he'd hoped.

"The whole neighbourhood is on the lookout. Hopefully someone might see something. Well, hopefully they don't have to see anything. He's so unprepared he doesn't care if he's seen. He's careless now. We just need to patrol the night of the second, if we don't catch him before hand, and hope for the best." Prentiss shrugged and tucked her hands into her pockets.

"We can't hope Emily. We need to know. Solid facts are what we need to catch this guy." Rossi spoke while hitting his hand with his other hand while making points.

"Okay! I was just spit-balling." She held her hands up defensively.

"If push comes to shove, that's what we'll be doing anyway." Hotch defended Prentiss casually.

"_Please, we are asking all women matching the description of the previous victims, to be extra careful and try to avoid being alone at all cost_s…."

The team heard JJ's plea coming from the precinct hall.

"She's nearly done." Hotch nodded at the team who gathered their belongings. By now they knew that if a press conference was to be held inside and/or at night, they had to get out of there before the press otherwise they'd most likely be harassed by the media and then followed into their hotel. Morgan picked up JJ's coat and bag and followed the team to the precinct exit.

"Finally, if anyone sees this man, the FBI asks you to report it directly to the police." JJ held up the camera still image, this cued a load of flashes from newspaper photographers, taking a photo of the suspect. "Thank you for your time." JJ gave a quick nod before leaving through the back entrance.

She ran down the back street, trying her best to dodge the raindrops which was obviously impossible. The door to an SUV was flung open and JJ launched herself in before slamming the door behind her.

"They're like vultures." She breathed while fastening her seatbelt next to Reid.

"When we get back to the hotel we'll work for another two hours before calling it a day." Hotch turned the wheel as a traffic light turned green. There was silence which Hotch took as a confirmation.

"Hey, Emily?" JJ leaned across Reid, who was sat in the middle seat, and tossed her head forward causing her slightly damp hair, to whip Emily in the face. Emily just closed her eyes and wiped her face.

"I suppose I deserved that."

**Reviews super-glue AJ and Paget to the set therefore if they are cut, they're stuck there anyway...**


	9. Chapter 9

**Thanks to smg55 i've posted a bit earlier today. Anyway, okay, here we go, hold on to your rotating chairs otherwise you might spin right off of them...probably with anger. Thank you to my lovely reviewers i love you all very very much.**

He pushed the armchair into the corner of the room so he could watch her when he wasn't hurting her. He pulled the TV out of the way so a large open area was created in the middle of the room. Usually he had bars to tie the ankles and wrists to but this time he'd have to do without.

Hold on.

He turned back to the TV that was still plugged in. There she was again, what the hell? Where'd she gotten that picture from?

He growled, picking up a stool he threw it at the concrete wall.

Everything was going wrong. His face started to turn red as he paced the room occasionally pounding on the wall with closed fists. Then out of the corner of his eye…

He smiled a little, his breathing calmed down.

He grabbed the remote and pressed rewind. This made everything better.

After she'd shown the photo she'd jumped out a back door. He knew that back door; it leads into an alley behind the precinct. Now, his only trouble was working out when she'd be there, it would be so easy to take her if she went that way again. He'd have to be quick and precise, but it could work.

He knew for a fact that there were two oversized bins in that alley; that could be his hideout; he'd wait there all day if he needed to, and actually, that's probably what he'd do anyway. It would be safer to leave early in the morning around 3am and then wait there all day. They'd find it suspicious that no one was taken; hopefully they'd be too preoccupied with trying to find him that they'd leave the blonde alone.

He smirked, again touching the screen where the blonde was standing. He pressed the pause button and threw the remote over to the chair. He'd leave the still of her speaking to the press on the screen. Maybe it'd freak her out a bit, she was so beautiful

Prentiss and JJ were camped out in Reid and Morgan's room. It was past ten now and they were supposed to stop working half an hour ago. Rossi and Hotch had left for their room quarter of an hour ago and had strongly advised JJ and Prentiss to get some shut eye. Of course the girls hadn't listened and were now lying upside down on Morgan's bed.

"Liar." JJ narrowed her eyes at Morgan.

"What?" Morgan's voice raised a pitch at the accusation.

"You said your bed was like concrete. This thing's like a cloud of marshmallows." JJ rolled onto her stomach and closed her eyes, resting her head on her hands.

"Hey, no! No sleeping, go to your room." Morgan flicked JJ's hair.

"But it's so comfy." JJ mumbled smiling.

"Right. Out." Morgan picked the petite blonde up and dropped her on her feet in front of the door Reid had just opened.

"Fine. What about her?" JJ nodded to the girl that was already half asleep on Morgan's bed, her head dangling off the side. Morgan sighed before walking back over to his bed and picking Emily up in the same way he had done to JJ.

"Noooo." She whined, reaching her arms back towards Morgan's bed. Morgan dropped her next to JJ.

"Come on Em, we don't need these soft beds." JJ walked from the room with her head high. Emily pouted but followed JJ, dragging her feet.

"Yes we do."

"So, do we all know our positions?" Hotch stood at the head of the table. Everyone nodded. They'd spent half the day putting a plan into action for every possible outcome of the situation they were in. Everyone had at least five different places to be depending on the situation. It was 3pm now and they were still trying to get to the UnSub before he got to another victim.

"I've had my officers search everywhere, anywhere that he could be hiding or using for a place to kill his victims. They came up with nothing." Samson spoke, his voice groggy from the lack of sleep.

"It's okay, we've got this place covered with officers, someone must see something." Hotch reassured. "We're going to do one final press release in two hours. Before that time I'd like everyone to search the more rural parts of the area, or maybe different parts of the forest. I think maybe, we've been looking at this wrong. Just because we took his first choice of location doesn't mean he already has another one set up somewhere close or in the same sort of area. He wouldn't have had much time to scope out other areas so he'll have stuck with the same type of place." The team nodded.

"JJ, Reid, Prentiss, I want you three in the forest. Morgan you and Samson take the rural areas at the west of town where the town's greenhouses are kept. Rossi and I will head south toward the worse part of town." Hotch grabbed his jacket from his chair as they dispersed.

"I told you not to wear heels again." JJ addressed the woman behind her who was breathing heavily.

"When?" Prentiss spread her arms out and stopped to catch her breath.

"Ladies, do you really think the smartest idea is to shout at each other when the UnSub could be just meters away?" Reid spoke over his shoulder as he continued up, yet, another hill.

"Ommm." JJ mouthed to Prentiss who sighed heavily and joined the trek up the hill.

"This is ridiculous, we've got an hour until five and we've only searched a fifth of the area." Rossi opened yet another garage door to find nothing but a shovel and a few discarded deck chairs.

"We'll head back in fifteen minutes but for now we need to keep looking." Hotch responded moving into a dark alley behind a set of garages.

"Do you usually get cases like this?" Morgan walked next to the Chief hand on hip.

"Well, no otherwise you people would probably live here." Samson responded, retreating a step to check down the side of a greenhouse before catching up with Morgan.

"It seems like a nice town seems like you keep things in check."

"Obviously we don't try hard enough." Samson tightened his lips before briefly checking his watch. He did a double take before stopping in his tracks. "Hey, Morgan, it's five we lost track of time, they'll be about to do the press conference."

Morgan turned on his heel and began back to the SUV double the pace.

"Let's move."

JJ stood above the largest audience of media she'd seen so far. Prentiss and Reid stood either side of her, scanning the audience.

As she spoke about their developments or lack of for that matter, she noticed that reporters' questions were getting more and more serious. She heard one lady yell out 'is it true you've made this case seem bigger than it actually is?'

She was getting restless and was getting around to wrapping up the conference, once again raising the picture of who they believed to be the UnSub. She saw Hotch and Rossi enter the precinct. Reid caught their eye and removed himself from the platform as quietly as he could to speak to them privately. She saw Hotch nod and beckon Rossi and Reid to follow him. Hotch walked into the make shift office then just as quickly emerged. Rossi nodded at JJ and Emily as the three men exited the precinct to patrol.

"Let me remind you, today is the second of May. Today is the day the UnSub is due to strike, don't go anywhere on your own and notify the police if you see anything, anything at all that seems suspicious. Thank you." JJ nodded as she had the night before, before following Emily out of the building via the back door.

They stepped out into the cool drizzle of the rain.

"Your job sucks." Emily noted before they began to walk toward the mouth of the alley.

Then in the blink of an eye Emily was on the floor.

"Emily!" JJ ducked as if on autopilot and turned gun in hand. She felt someone hitting her wrist against the brick wall and her gun fall to the ground. She looked up to see the face of James Stone staring down at her.

She quickly regained her composure planting a hit to his midsection before he knocked her onto her back.

"Emily! Emily!" JJ tried screaming but the other woman seemed out of it. "What did you do?" JJ looked up to the man towering over her from her place on the wet floor. He just smiled darkly before raising the shovel above his head.

JJ felt the sting to the side of her face before the blackness took her.

**Reviews will guarantee an update every day...**


	10. Chapter 10

**As promised, here's the next chapter bright and early. Just warning you it'll be a late update tomorrow 'cause i'm off babysitting but there WILL be an update tomorrow. By the way, the reviews i recieved for the last chapter were AMAZEBALLS. Anyway, on with my evilness...**

She groaned unconsciously before her eyes fluttered open. The rain had made her hair stick to her face and she felt the wetness of her clothes dragging her down.

She pushed at the floor but immediately regretted it. It felt like she was experiencing the biggest hangover in the world, or worst, been hit by a truck. She fought the urge to lie back down and close her eyes and pushed up into a rough sitting position, leaning against the alley wall.

She peered through squinted eyes into the light rain. It hurt so much but she was sure she was missing something. Then her head started to vibrate. Her hands immediately flung to her ears and she gritted her teeth in pain. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a flashing light. She turned to the source.

Was that her cell?

She reluctantly pulled a hand from the side of her head and wrapped her fingers around the cool object. As she brought it toward her face, the light flashed again. She turned her head away faster than she probably should have as she felt the throbbing pain surge all the way through her body.

What the hell had she been hit with? Wait…

She'd been hit, someone had hit her.

"Oh god, Jayje." She whispered. It all came flooding back to her now. The pain and then her body falling toward the ground. There was a scuffle next to her as the darkness was slowly surrounding her vision.

'Emily! Emily!' She remembered JJ's plea. Get up Emily, get up! Why the heck didn't she get up? Why did she just lie there? She punched the wall she laid against no longer caring for the pain she felt from the shoulders up. She stared at the phone in her hand before flipping it open and attempting to stand up.

"Hel…" She murmured closing her eyes as she slid up the wall.

"Prentiss! Where the hell have you been? I've been trying to call for the last fifteen minutes." Morgan bellowed down the line. Emily held the phone away from her ear, it felt like someone was inside her head playing a full on drum kit.

"Fifteen?…..What time is it?" She stood fully and looked at her own watch.

"It's six." Morgan answered for her. "Where have you been? Hotch wants a status report."

"Six…." Emily tried to do some preschool math in her head. "I've been out half an hour." She whispered to herself, ashamed.

"Out?" Morgan obviously heard the comment.

"Jayje." Emily suddenly realised the longer she stood here trying to work out what the hell had happened, the longer JJ was missing, the longer that ass had his hands on her. "He took Jayje."

"What?"

He dropped the unconscious body on the solid floor; she'd been out cold since he hit her, which was good. It gave him time to think up an attack plan.

He quickly shook off his sodden shirt and threw on a clean white wife beater. Before he went to position his tools he knelt in front of the blonde whose hair was plastered over her eyes. He carefully moved the hair so it was behind her ear. He patted her cheek softly before moving his hand down her jaw line.

This one was much more beautiful than the rest of them, he was so happy to call her 'his last'. It made him excited that the woman that had been speaking about him was actually in his grasp. He stood and looked to the TV where the paused image of the blonde girl stood, holding his picture up. He saw her blue eyes; he couldn't wait to see them in person.

He backed away from the screen and walked over to a draw. From it, he pulled out various objects. There was a table pushed up against the back wall on which he placed the items. A baseball bat, a couple of knives, a few straps and other things that he thought might have to sit out on this one.

James took two of the straps from the table and sauntered over to the girl splayed out on the floor. He straightened out her legs and tightened one of the straps around her ankles, making sure it was secure in the process. He then moved her so she was lying on her back. He pulled both of her arms into a position in front of her before tying her wrists together. He patted her forearm before heading into the next room to change his soaked jeans.

He returned in a few brief seconds.

"Eugh…" He heard her whimper. He smiled and walked over to the arm chair in the corner. He silently sat, his eyes never leaving her body.

"Found this." Samson walked back into the precinct with Rossi in tow. He was holding up JJ's gun before putting it on the table in front of Hotch.

"I told you to watch her." Hotch turned to Prentiss. She could see the anger burning in his eyes.

"I was I mean, I did. We just walked out the door and then I was out of it." She tried to defend herself but she didn't even believe what she was saying. She was disgusted at herself for letting James get hold of her. She felt guilty.

"Damn it Emily." Morgan stood abruptly and walked around the table his hands on the back of his neck in frustration.

"You rang!" Garcia announced as she popped up on the screen. Obviously by the foul look on each of her agents' faces something bad had happened.

"What happened?"

When no one answered immediately Garcia readied herself for the worst.

"Hold on, where's JJ?"

The team's eyes all either cast down to the ground or at Emily.

"He got her Garcia." Emily mumbled. Garcia's mouth opened in disbelief and a tear escaped her eye.

"You said you were protecting her! I told you not to leave her side." She shot the last part at Emily.

Prentiss knew everyone was right; she hadn't protected the only thing she was put in charge of. She kicked the table and walked from the bullpen.

"We need to find her, and fast. We don't need to start blaming people right now." Rossi, seeing that everyone was taking their anger out on Emily, stepped in. "I'll go get Prentiss, you start searching." Rossi pointed to no one in particular.

Emily rushed out the precinct door and breathed the fresh air, it was still raining but she didn't even register that. She lifted the bag of ice she was resting on her head and threw it across the road in frustration.

"Emily, it's not your fault." Rossi stood in the doorway trying to avoid getting himself anymore wet.

"But it is isn't it?" Her voice broke as she shook her head and rested her hands on her knees.

"No, of course not. If I was assigned your position, it'd be me with the lump on his head." Rossi stepped out into the rain, not really caring anymore.

"Sure." Emily laughed bitterly.

"He knocked you out Emily. You couldn't have prevented that. You couldn't have seen anything." Rossi put a hand on her shoulder. A car drove past and Prentiss' head shot up, she felt the sudden wave of nausea pass before jogging hastily back into the precinct. She nearly bowled Hotch and the rest of the team over before sidestepping them.

"Garcia!" She called out as soon as she'd gotten into the bullpen. As soon as she was sure the technical analyst was listening she began explaining her urgency. "Run the plates Tango Alpha five seven Zulu Bravo eight." It'd all come back to her once she'd seen the random car driving past her.

She hadn't lost consciousness straight after James had hit her, she remembered trying to get up, but failing miserably. She turned her head croaking out a pathetic 'Jayje' before seeing him dumping her into the back of a small car.

Garcia didn't question her friend's knowledge and began typing quicker than she usually did, which she didn't know was possible.

"Registered to James Stone." Garcia quickly provided.

"Can it be tracked?" The team walked back in, seeing Emily and Garcia's frantic behaviour. Garcia began working again.

"Well it's a 2007 model so it probably isn't….." She stopped speaking. "Yes. Oh my god yes, he must've had some upgrade work done to his car." Garcia spoke in disbelief.

"Where is he Garcia?" Hotch spoke already heading out of the room.

"Wait!" She called him back. "I can't tell you, there isn't an address. He's nowhere."

"What do you mean?" Emily asked desperately.

"I'll call you on your cell and give you directions but I can't give you an address because he's in the middle of nowhere." Hotch nodded fearing the worst.

The team practically ran from the precinct. Hotch, Rossi and Reid to one SUV. Morgan, Samson and Emily to another. The engines roared to life before the headlights were lit and the tires screeched into action.

**Reviews keep the titanic afloat. Oh, we're a bit late for that...**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello, so i promised another chapter today and here it is. I went babysitting last night and the babies were fine and went to bed early, however, my two friends i was with decided that sleep wasn't necessary and i've now been up 30 hours straight. Yes, i'm tired. Anyway, enjoy the horribleness that i am to our favourite media liason...**

JJ felt the sticky substance on the side of her face before she felt anything else. She remembered the shovel and waited for the pain to hit, but it never did.

"It won't hurt for long." Her eyes snapped open and the dizziness hit her. She tried to focus her vision but it wasn't changing. "I didn't hit you that hard; I gave you something to help the pain."

JJ's vision soon cleared. She looked around the room. It was plain, concrete walls, concrete ceiling. In the corner there was a TV with a picture of her on it. Right next to the TV was a table, she looked to her other side; where the voice had come from and saw the figure sitting on an arm chair.

"What do you want?" JJ winced when her own voice sounded like she was using a bullhorn. She heard him laugh to himself before he stood and began walking over to her.

"I thought you were meant to be an FBI agent. You're not so smart are you?" He crouched next to her. If it wasn't for the thudding headache that was slowly creeping up on her she would've totally head butted him.

"What did you do to Emily?" The events came rushing back to her memory. James raised a hand thoughtfully to his chin before standing back up straight.

"I think she'll survive." He paced. "I hit her harder than I hit you. She's stronger than you, you know? I hardly even touched you and you were out of it for," He looked at his watch and widened his eyes dramatically. "Well, half an hour at least."

JJ wriggled to sit up. She didn't understand why it was so hard until she saw her wrists and ankles bound together. She remembered how the victims had been found; wrists and ankles tied, she put it all together in her head. He was going to kill her.

"Listen to me; you don't want to do this." JJ tried to reason with the man that now had his back turned to her over at the table. JJ quickly reached into her pocket, which was harder than expected, and felt around for her phone. As soon as she felt the object, her heart lifted a little. She turned it onto silent first before hitting number one and pressing the dial button. She then locked it and removed her hands from her pocket. This guy wasn't so clever after all.

"Now, what shall we do first?" He turned towards her, holding a knife in one hand and twirled a baseball bat in the other. JJ's eyes widened in fear. He saw her reaction and felt a rush of adrenaline. He tossed the knife back on the table.

"I think we'll start big."

He raised the baseball bat to his shoulder and slowly circled JJ. She had no protection, the only thing she could do was curl into a ball but she wasn't going to do that, that would show fear and that would just spur him on. Instead she just sat, knees bent into a bridge, her head bowed slightly.

"Don't…." Was all she managed before the bat collided with her midsection. She doubled over and coughed. He pulled the bat back and walked around her a little more before taking another swing at her legs this time. She cried out in pain, she saw his eyes flash with excitement. That was his pleasure, hearing the pain he caused on his victims just spurred him on. JJ kept her mouth shut.

He walked around a little more before he swung at her side twice, she groaned, biting her lip till she tasted blood.

"You're no fun." He looked a little sad. "All the others; they screamed and begged. You just sit there." He stood over her. She slowly raised her gaze to look him in the eye before he landed one massive blow to her ribs. She couldn't even scream out that time. The wind left her lungs and she flew back so she was lying flat out on the cold floor.

"Just…" She spat through gritted teeth. "Stop." She blinked furiously before turning on her side. He grinned again.

"That's better." He threw the bat back to the table before nearly skipping around to the front of her. "I like it when I hear them scream." He kicked her in the stomach. She brought her knees up to her chest. There she was, in the only position she hadn't wanted to end up in. "Hey!" He tried to grab her attention. She just stared at her knees.

"I said, hey!" He grabbed her by the shoulders and hauled her to her feet. Now only if her legs weren't bound. "Listen to me when I talk to you." He raised his hand and slapped her with so much power she was forced to the ground again, she couldn't catch herself either.

"I have four hours with you yet. Let's not rush things." He knelt down and sat her up. She kept her head turned away, breathing through her teeth as each breath killed her a little inside. "Be good." He ruffled her hair.

"Okay, you're coming up to the car now." Garcia spoke hastily. Hotch made a break left turn onto a dust path and braked immediately causing everyone to jerk forwards. Morgan pulled in behind him.

"I don't see it." Rossi shouted to the others as they frantically searched for the vehicle.

"Here!" Reid called from the other side of the road; throwing some branches aside he revealed the car.

"He must've carried her from here."

"We know how he likes to carry his victims."

"Can we not talk about JJ like that?" Emily threw a sideways glance. Morgan threw his arms out.

"Well that's what she is isn't she? He somehow managed to get hold of her, even though you were right there next to her."

"I get it alright? I know it's my fault he's got her." Emily turned to the taller man, guilt in her eyes. "It's my fault." She mumbled to herself.

"It's no one's fault okay? We're gonna find JJ and she's gonna be alright. Okay?" Rossi squared up to the two agents. Morgan and Emily gave each other a small forgiving look before nodding at Rossi.

"I don't understand where he's gone from here." Reid stood examining the car then the dust road, squinting his eyes for any sign of tracks. It didn't help that it was still drizzling with rain.

It wasn't getting dark yet but by the look of the clouds in the sky the rain was going to get heavier and the wind was beginning to pick up again. They had another two hours at least until it started to get dark.

"Excuse me." Hotch turned away from the team as his phone began to ring. "Hey Garcia…"

"There's nothing here, look." Samson stood in front of the parked car. "North; you got, what? Miles of fields. South; the road we just came up. West; trees, acres and acres of trees. East; a whole lot more fields and a bit of farmland. There's no way he could hide out here, there's nothing to hide in." Samson shook his head at the agents; he obviously didn't see the way he saw.

"Keep her on the line, Garcia!" They heard Hotch speak urgently to his phone. "Forward her through to Rossi and Prentiss' cells." He ordered before snapping his phone shut. The team looked at him expectantly.

"Jayje used her cell to call Garcia. She's not speaking directly to Garcia but has left it on so we can trace her." Hotch practically jogged back to the SUV, everyone followed suit. Just then Emily and Rossi's phone began to ring.

"Is that her now?" Rossi asked opening his phone. His question was answered when he put it on speaker and all he heard was shallow breathing and the voice of, what he decided, was their UnSub.

"Oh my god." Emily gasped as she shut the door while pressing speaker on her cell. "Jayje." She whispered as she heard the small whimper.

"How're you doin'?" James asked as he slapped the arms of the chair he was currently sitting on.

"I've been better." JJ replied in the same monotone voice she'd been using for the last hour, or was it two?

"Well, let's see if we can change that." He hoisted himself up and pondered over to the table. "What d'you fancy? I got a couple of knives, a few seatbelts, that baseball bat's an old favourite of yours." James rifled through the objects on the table. The only thing JJ could think of were snide comments. She decided to keep them to herself; she didn't want to enrage him. He stared at her for a few minutes before hovering his hand over the table.

"No preference then." JJ turned her head away, fearing the pain to come. "Okay then." His hand zoomed down. She shut her eyes, refusing to look at what he'd chosen to torture her with next.

"This may sting." JJ couldn't help it, she turned to look. She couldn't tell whether she was relieved or more frightened by the sight of the seatbelt that dangled by his side. She saw him draw the strap back before it came hurtling toward her. She heard the snap and felt the blinding pain on her left cheek; she couldn't help but gasp out. She didn't have much time to recover before it came down on her again in the exact same place, it felt like her face was going to explode.

She was relieved when she didn't feel it again, but it was short lived.

"Aahh!" She cried out and pulled her arms into her as he launched the seatbelt at her lower arms. "No more." JJ felt the tears pricking the corner of her eyes. "No more." She whimpered, refusing to let herself fully cry in front a dirt bag that lived for these moments.

"Have it your way. Just remember, you're the one who asked for it."

**Reviews able you to torture James freely in your own mind...**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey! Thank you so much, the response to this story so far has been amazing! I'm planning on listing all of my reviewers at the end 'cause i think you deserve it! Also, sorry for the slow update, unfortunately i'm back at college and don't get back till half five and then i have to work on the farm. Anyway, enjoy the pain i cause...**

JJ didn't hesitate to struggle with her binds as soon as he left the room; unfortunately he'd been clever enough to take the sharper objects with him so she couldn't cut her restraints.

"Guys," She whispered harshly. "If you can hear me, I'm fine okay just you know, take your time getting here and all. I'm in a concrete room. I have no idea where. It's small and with one window. I can see the sun." She stopped speaking abruptly, she thought she heard moving around in the next room but wasn't sure, she didn't want to chance speaking again.

Being JJ sometimes came as an advantage. People underestimated her size. After twisting her arms in ways unimaginable to the average person, she slipped free of her wrist binds. She quickly used her hands to untie the one on her ankles and sprung from the floor to her feet the best she could. The injuries from the bat seemed to slow her down, not to mention the dizziness currently wreaking havoc in her head.

She tip toed across the room and grabbed the bat before moving behind the door, patiently awaiting his return. Like clockwork he shifted back into the room straight after she'd positioned herself. It took a moment to process the empty space in front of him before he actually realised she'd gone. But it was too late; she'd already whacked him across the back, then the head. He fell to the ground groaning. Without thinking she ran out the door he'd just walked in.

She could tell it used to be an abandoned house, boarded up windows and no furniture. She ran toward the door that appeared to lead outside. She heard him growling in the next room and realised she didn't have much time.

As much as she shook the door, it just wouldn't budge. She didn't even notice herself letting out a panicked squeak before heading for the next room along. It looked like the old kitchen; there was no door or a window big enough for her to fit through in time.

"Blondie!" She heard his slurring coming closer and finally felt what it was like to be in one of them horror movies where the teenage girl is constantly chased around the dark, old house by the psychopathic killer. She ran through the kitchen and ended up back in the hallway but at the opposite end to the door.

He stood there staring at her.

"Come back here, now!" He raged, storming toward her. She pushed at the door to her left which flung open. She slammed it shut behind her. Another door. She threw all her weight at it and stumbled through when it opened. It was just another room. How big was this place?

"Nowhere to go now." The voice was a whisper in her ear; she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. She didn't know why she didn't fight him, maybe the concept of him not having to tackle her to the ground and possibly breaking her bones contradicted her FBI training.

He grabbed her roughly by the wrists and yanked her back so he had his other hand on the back of her neck.

"Walk." He ordered sternly.

They were soon back in the small box room. He pushed her flush up against the concrete wall with the window in while he bent down and scooped up the restraints she'd left scattered on the floor. He pushed her hands above her head before tying a rope to each of them. He held both of the ends in his right hand and pulled her around the room with him till he reached the table and began shifting through the objects on top of it. JJ was becoming agitated, he was leading her around like a dog on a leash, and it was disgusting.

She drew her leg up and kicked him in the back of his knee. She knew it wasn't the smartest of ideas seen as he had a tight grip on her hand ties. She repeated the motion when he bent down in pain.

"You're sick!" She yelled angrily before wrapping her wrist restraints around his neck causing him to let go of the ends. She pulled tighter and tighter until he was coughing and standing up, trying desperately to pull her off his back. He managed to get a grip under her right arm and using his weight he flipped her over his head.

"Stupid girl, stupid!" He screamed at her kicking her a couple of times in the gut before planting a fist right across her cheek. She stopped squirming, she was in darkness. Again.

"Oh my god, what is he doing to her?" Garcia screamed over Hotch's phone.

"Where is she Garcia?" Hotch tried to keep the usually bubbly red head's mind off the blonde they were searching for.

"_Stupid girl, stupid!"_

They all braced themselves when they heard a large thud followed by a few more smaller thuds then silence.

"No, no, no…." Garcia trailed off, her voice breaking.

"Garcia?" Hotch tried again.

"You're five miles away." Garcia eventually spoke, her voice strained as if she was holding back another wave of tears. "I think it's an abandoned farmhouse."

"Thanks, keep us updated."

"No." She slurred. Her eyes opening, then closing again. "No more." She choked out.

"You don't call the shots anymore." James sneered at her throwing some small knifes and metal objects into a bag. "Oh, yeah, and look what I found." James held up a little black object, JJ closed her eyes and turned her head towards the concrete on the floor. Damn, he'd found her cell. Now she was definitely done for.

"No." She murmured again, maybe she was having a really bad nightmare. She realised she was lying really awkwardly when she felt a sharp pain shoot up her right arm. She looked up and realised each of her arms were tied to bolts embedded into the wall.

"Now, here's what going to happen." James started, walking over to her slowly playing with a sharp knife. JJ examined the man in front of her. His wife beater was drained in blood, probably hers and his smile made her think about what Spencer had said earlier. For once Reid appeared to have been wrong, this guy was a psychopath.

"You're gonna sit there and be a good little darling while I beat the living crap outta you. Got it?" He sneered through gritted teeth crouching to mere inches from her face. She recoiled, practically hugging the wall.

"Okay, okay." JJ was taken aback by her own frightened voice. She was glad though, that James had turned off her phone, that way the team couldn't hear how pathetic she sounded.

"Good. Now," He stood back up. "I'm going into the kitchen; don't do anything you'll regret." He smiled pleasantly before walking off. As soon as he closed the door she began savagely pulling at the thin pieces of chord binding her to the wall.

"Come on. Come on. Come on!" She whispered harshly, tugging with all her might. The area around her wrist was turning bring red but she fought through the feeling of it digging into her skin. A few more minutes of heaving at the restraints left her wrists swollen and bruised to no end. She eventually fell back against the wall, defeated.

"What's going on?" Prentiss looked around at everyone in their vehicle as the dial tone was heard over the speaker.

"Maybe she accidentally hung up?" Samson turned to look at her.

"He probably found it." Morgan unconsciously sped up behind Hotch. Prentiss' covered her mouth with her hand.

"You're two miles guys, you need to drive faster. Her phone's been turned off so I can't trace it any more but we've still got the location." Garcia sounded unnerved on the other end of Morgan's phone that had been thrown onto the dashboard. As Morgan saw Hotch speed up, he followed suit.

"I don't get where he's got her. There's nothing up here but farmland." Samson held onto the side door as Morgan sharply turned a corner.

"No houses?" Morgan had stopped using full sentences and basically words in general since JJ had rang them and now he was even more frustrated that he couldn't hear what was going on at the other side.

"Well, yeah, maybe. A few old abandoned farmhouses but they'd be no good."

"You'd be surprised at the standards of a serial killer."

**Reviews make college go away...**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey, so i kinda live in the middle of nowhere and we're having problems with the interwebs right now, but have no fear, i will definitely try and get a chapter up each day. I think there's about five chapters left now. It's gone quickly. Anyway, on with my psychotic mind...**

JJ regretted pulling so hard on her binds now. Her left was the worst; she'd made the thin material cut into her skin, drawing a little blood. Apart from that they were both bruised and slowly turning a dark purple, they weren't going to fade easily, well, that is, if they ever get the chance to fade. She didn't even know if the team knew where she was. Hell, she didn't even know where she was.

James had been in the kitchen for five minutes now and she was getting worried. What was he doing in there? It was unnervingly quiet in the next room and no matter how much she strained her ears, she could only hear a faint whooshing air sound. Being the paranoid blonde she was, she immediately thought about gas and how he'd probably left the cooker running, waiting for the perfect moment to blow the place up.

She shook her head of the thoughts. That wasn't how he worked, he wanted to make her suffer, he wanted her team to see her in pain and/or dead. Suddenly the sound stopped and she snapped her head toward the door.

"Sorry," James announced, backing through the door. He turned, a bit melodramatically, bearing a metal rod. "It took a bit longer to heat this up than I thought." He grinned nearly reassuringly at her before pointing the rod at her. "Now, where's the best place to burn a pretty little girl like you, eh?"

JJ's eyes were widened. She didn't know what she preferred now, the thought of being seared by a white hot pole but living, or him blowing the house up.

"Give me your hand." He held out his free hand toward her. JJ shook her head; to him she looked childlike, backed into a corner. "Give me your hand or I'll make it last longer." His eyes bulged. It was days like these she challenged the reasons she chose the job she did.

"I warned you." He spat before grabbing her right arm and rolling up her sleeve. "You did this to yourself, remember, it's your fault this is happening."

Now, JJ wasn't the most confident person, never mind one to speak her mind but never, did she let anyone push her around.

"No!" She screamed in his face, ripping her arm from his grasp. "This is your fault; you're the one doing this to me! You could've left me here and driven off into the sunset by now without a chance in hell of anyone finding you, yet you choose to be here and to torture me for no apparent reason." JJ laughed bitterly. "You're wrong in the head James. You need to get help!" JJ tapped her own temple systematically.

"You bitch!" He advanced on her further, if that was even possible and grabbed her arm again, tighter than before, it would probably leave a mark. He pressed the burning hot skewer to her olive skin just below the elbow on the more sensitive, underside of her arm and enjoyed the colour it began to turn, first pink then red, blood spilling from the wound.

JJ tried her best not to scream; not to egg him on but this was pain like never before. It was blinding. She yelled out knocking him with her other hand. She carried on whimpering loudly when the pain didn't cease to exist.

She glanced at the metal pole that had fallen in front of her, much like the way he was. They both made a grab for it.

JJ was able to land a kick to his crotch, causing him to roll over. She grabbed what she hoped was the cool end of the rod. Finally things might be going her way.

"Don't," Her voice was shaking, much like her hand. "Don't come near me." He made a step closer.

"I said don't!" She thrust the rod forward which made him stagger backwards. She was no profiler but just by the simple little things, such as the sweat on his forehead and the doubt in his eyes, she could tell that he was losing his temper.

"Okay, you are really pissing me off now." He thrust his arms downwards from his head to his sides. JJ laughed nervously.

"Likewise." Suddenly James stopped bouncing from foot to foot and looked out of the sole window.

"What was that?" It was a stupid probie mistake. He'd tricked her, pretending someone was outside just so he could catch her off guard. He punched her down; in the process she dropped the skewer. He grabbed it and threw it to the other side of the room.

"You think your little FBI friends are looking for you? That just makes you even more pathetic!" He stood over the girl lying awkwardly on the ground before landing a few kicks to her back and gut. JJ coughed in discomfort. "If they cared about you, wouldn't they have already found you? They probably don't even know your missing. Stupid girl."

"You know," JJ's voice strained as she sat up against the wall. "At least I," She coughed violently and tasted blood. She looked up at him, blood dripping from her nose and lip. "At least I have friends." Under normal circumstances JJ's 'bitch stare' would've made anyone back down.

He steamed forward grabbing her face with one of his hands, kneeling over her small body.

"Yeah. Friends that can't be bothered to find you." He pushed her face away, her hair stuck to the blood dripping down her face. "I'm bored now."

He obviously wasn't bored, but he was frustrated. This damn cop just got to him so much, it felt like she knew what he was thinking; what he was feeling.

"It's time for you to go now." His hands flew to his head as he paced around the room looking for the knife he'd placed down earlier.

"I would," JJ's voice's laced heavily with sarcasm. "If you'd just untie me."

"Shut up!" He walked back over hastily throwing another punch at her face. Her vision went blurry but she fought and beat the drowsiness. "Just….shut up!" He found the knife on the side of the arm chair.

"Hold out your arm."

"No." She spat sternly.

"Listen. We've been here before haven't we? How did that turn out for you?" He roughly pushed her ankles together so her legs were flat out on the floor as she leant against the wall. He positioned himself before carelessly sitting down on top of her legs to hold her steady.

"Aahhh!" JJ panicked. She did not want a broken leg, or two for that matter.

"Now, arm!" He ordered forcefully. It took all of her power to resist throwing her arm toward him. "Fine." He tilted his head dangerously. He grabbed her left arm, the one without the burn on and moved the rough looking knife toward her skin.

"No! No!" JJ squirmed helplessly but his weight held her in place and even though it killed her a little bit more every time she tried to move she carried on wriggling until she felt the cool metal puncture her skin and from then on she just screamed in agony.

"Okay, okay. You're there! The house to your left!" Garcia screamed urgently down her headset. "Go, go get in there!"

The team didn't need to be told twice. They'd been told by Strauss to wait for back up, but they'd paid no attention to that order. They were all running to the old looking house without thinking. Hotch, Prentiss and Morgan sprinted to the front door while Reid, Rossi and Samson went to the back.

They heard an ear piercing scream from somewhere inside. Hotch didn't hesitate to kick the door in.

JJ heard the cars pull up outside, obviously James didn't. He was too busy carving the letter 'O' into her arm. JJ screamed again, she could feel the trickling of the red liquid running everywhere. The excruciating pain was like nothing she'd felt ever before. It made her want to be dead. It made her wish he'd hit her with the shovel a little too hard. She hated thinking those thoughts, but they were true.

"It's your fault." He growled, looking her in the eye before he moved onto the 'M'. JJ screamed again and again until she heard the sound of splintering wood and footsteps thudding through the house. Unfortunately, James had actually heard that part.

He thought quickly, cutting her binds and pulling her up from the ground so his arm was around her neck, her positioned in front of him, like a human shield.

"You come any closer. She's dead." He growled proudly as three agents filtered into the room. Two men and that one he'd hit with the shovel, Emily. He smiled and pressed the knife to her throat.

**Reviews plant new torture tactics in my head possibly for a new story...**


	14. Chapter 14

**Haha. I'm pretty sure you all hate me for leaving it there but i'm sure you'll all love me by the end of this chapter...or, well, probably not. Anyway, thank you so much for the amazing response i get from you guys. Seriously, it's insane. I love you: intense, i know. On with the chapter...**

"Drop the knife Stone!" Morgan shouted from his position just behind Emily. James shook his head and laughed to himself.

"If you didn't notice, I'm the one with the upper hand here. You can't kill me without killing this little princess too." James shook JJ lightly, causing her to swallow hard. She could still taste the blood in her mouth and it made her nauseous.

"You put that knife down and we can talk this out." Hotch added, much calmer than Morgan.

"Are you all as stupid as this one?" James pulled the knife back and pointed it at JJ whose eyes were small, she hadn't yet made any eye contact with the team. She didn't know whether it was due to the embarrassment of the situation or because they'd see how pathetic she looked; playing the part of the victim.

Morgan turned to see Samson, Rossi and Reid approaching them.

"Have you got her?" Rossi eagerly joined Morgan just to be disappointed at the sight of JJ still in his arms. "Damn."

"How're you gonna get out of this one James? You can't leave. SWAT will be all over this place in a few minutes. You let her go; you get out of here alive." Emily tried to reason, lowering her weapon a little.

"Please. As soon as you get a clear shot you'll shoot me, we all know that. I'm not a child." James sneered.

"Like Ben was?" Emily quickly responded, seeing the flash in his eyes, she carried on. "He was ten, he was young and innocent, he's probably watching right now." Emily inched forward, unnoticed by James whose eyes were glazed over.

"Ben wouldn't want to see you like this James. You owe him something. Give her to me." Emily stretched out an arm towards JJ. James still seemed distant; JJ could feel the cool blade loosen around her neck a little. "Please."

James suddenly snapped out of it and pulled JJ closer to him.

"No! What are you doing? Get away from us." JJ staggered back as James pulled her back with him. She whimpered a little, she was just tired. She was losing the will to live.

"James." JJ spoke for the first time in a while, her voice cracked and most of the agents opposite her looked as if they'd just seen a puppy been kicked. "James, listen to me."

"You will speak when spoken to." He grabbed just below the elbow on her left arm where the burn was. JJ screamed out in absolute agony. The team had no idea why, her sleeve was rolled down. Then they saw the blood pooling through the thin fabric.

"Okay, okay." JJ's breathing slowed down as he released the grip.

"JJ, are you okay?" Hotch took a small step into the room. It was probably the most stupid question he'd ever asked in his life.

"I'm having a blast, thanks Hotch." JJ replied with a dark look on her face.

"I told you. Your idiot friends don't really care about you. It's just their job." James pressed his lips to her ear. She shivered uncomfortably at the touch.

"Hey, buddy. There's this thing called personal space." Morgan yelled, frustrated that they could see JJ and were within ten yards of her, yet, they couldn't even touch her.

"We've got over that, haven't we blondie?" James grinned down at JJ. JJ cast her eyes down away from both the team and James. "I think we're at a crossroads here ladies and gentlemen."

There was silence; no one actually knew what to do.

JJ looked around her team, they all looked lost and she didn't know why. It was time for tactics. JJ started to blink furiously.

"JJ?" Emily asked in a curious tone.

"I – I c-can't breathe…" She stuttered before 'passing out' and falling back into James' arms as to not cut her neck on the blade.

"JJ!" Hotch made a step but James was already pressing the knife closer to JJ's neck.

"Stop playing_ Jayje._" James smirked at the 'unconscious' body in his arms. She didn't move, maybe she was dead. James shrugged. "Seems like your girl's not as strong as you thought." He snarled trying to support the dead weight in his arms. While he was struggling with the body he had to use his hand with the knife in to support her arm. This was exactly what JJ was waiting for.

She quickly spun in his arms and threw one hell of a punch. It caught him by surprise. He tried to grab the blonde but only caught her hair. She quickly ducked while spinning her leg around taking his feet out. He hit the ground with a crack.

JJ began to realise what had just happened when she slowly stood from her crouched position on the floor. Her eyes glistening with tears.

"Hey blondie," She heard it. It was quiet but she heard it. She immediately whipped her body round. "Catch." And with that he threw the knife with all of his might in her direction.

Emily could see what was happening and before she even knew it, she was running towards JJ. She dived towards her friend just as he threw the knife. Emily pulled JJ to the ground as fast as she could.

Morgan and Hotch leapt onto the UnSub like a tiger on a deer. He was handcuffed then walked outside where SWAT had just, conveniently, arrived. Morgan tried not to walk Stone into as many walls as possible. Not.

"Jayje." Emily kneeled up from her place on the floor. When the blonde didn't reply or move Emily feared she hadn't gotten to her in time. "Jay…" Emily lay a hand on the blonde's arm and felt a quivering. As Rossi and Reid came rushing toward them Emily slowed them down with a hand.

"Get me an ambulance. Fast." She near snapped at the boys. Rossi nodded and pulled Samson outside with him. Reid just stood, trying to take in all of what had just happened. Emily quickly shuffled around to the front of JJ.

Amidst all of the blood and bruises covering her body, Emily could see the tears slowly slipping down JJ's cheeks. Emily slowly moved her hand towards her best friend's head and began to carefully move the hair away.

"You're safe now." Emily whispered to the closed eyed girl. "We're here for you."

"We're all here for you." Reid approached the two on the ground. JJ reached her right arm out and grabbed Emily's hand not letting go for dear life.

She didn't want to open her eyes. What if it was a dream and she was still under James' surveillance in his crazy world. Everything hurt bad, so bad. The feeling of a soft hand in her bloody one comforted her but only so far.

"James said we didn't care for you." Reid stated, quietly kneeling next to Emily opposite JJ's body on the ground. "If we didn't care for you would Emily have just saved your life?" Reid softened his tone.

"Open your eyes, Jay." Emily begged. There were fait sirens in the distance. JJ didn't budge. Reid looked around for a second before turning back to the girl on the floor.

"There's something you're gonna want to see Jayje." Reid looked to Emily when she stared at him with questionable eyes. "You have to trust me."

JJ wasn't sure, but she had nothing to lose now right? Her eyes crept open, her sight fuzzy from the tears that were stinging them. Emily smiled genuinely for the first time.

"Hey, hey we're here. See, we're right here." Emily placed another reassuring hand on the pale one she was holding. JJ had fully opened her eyes, darting them back and forth lazily.

"Wha – What d-did you..." JJ only managed a small part of the sentence before the lump in her throat cut her off. Sensing JJ's discomfort Reid understood what JJ was trying to ask.

"You want to know how much we love you?" Reid asked rhetorically. JJ didn't nod but just stared at him wide eyed. Reid pushed Emily's shoulder lightly, Emily didn't refuse but she still had no idea what was going on. Soon Emily was facing the back wall, her right side pointed towards JJ.

"Oh my…" JJ took her hand from Emily's and drew it to her mouth. "Emily…" She trailed off her voice a breath.

"What? What's going on?" Emily asked desperately.

"Hold still." Reid placed one hand on her left shoulder and she soon felt pressure against it as she felt Reid pulling something from her vest. "Okay." Reid signalled for her to turn back around. She quickly did so to see Reid holding the knife previously thrown at JJ.

"Was that stuck in my vest?" She stumbled over her words, her voice an octave higher than usual.

"Why did you do that?" A burst of volume Emily and Reid didn't expect from the petite blonde caused them to lean back a little. "You could've died Prentiss! What the hell is wrong with you?" JJ's eyes were still teary but she let the tears fall this time. She struggled with the ground as she tried to push herself up.

"JJ," Emily looked too surprised to speak as JJ was slowly making her way to her feet Emily jumped up before JJ's hands hand even left the ground, as did Reid who was feeling slightly awkward. "I didn't want you to die." She defended honestly.

"You should've let me."

**Reviews insure the death of the bitch that is Doyle next season...**


	15. Chapter 15

**Hey! So, sorry again for the later update. College is my excuse, again. Anyway, thank you so so much for the response i got for the last chapter! I've still got to reply to some of you, sorry, i know, i gotta haul ass. Enjoy!**

"I should've let you?" It was Emily's turn to be angry now.

"I'm just gonna…" Reid pointed towards the door but neither JJ nor Emily acknowledged him leaving.

"Why would you say that?" Emily crouched down in front of the girl in distress who was continuously fighting to get on her feet.

"I'm not worth the risk." JJ snapped her head in Prentiss' direction; speaking in a low tone trough gritted teeth before facing the ground again and eventually finding her feet. She swayed helplessly but remained stood. Emily was still crouching staring at the place JJ had previously been laying. Her mouth open, so many emotions and words forming.

"Is that what he made you think?" Emily's tone was indefinable; her slow rise from the ground to face JJ directly was steady unlike her hands that were shaking in frustration. JJ looked down at the ground before regaining her composure.

"Jayje…" Emily rested her hand lightly on JJ's elbow. JJ pulled away, Emily looked hurt by the gesture. JJ opened her mouth to tell her it wasn't her, it was the gaping hole in her arm that jackass had given her but for some reason her mind was telling her not to. Emily's eyes looked up when she heard another set of sirens.

"That's the ambulance, come on." Emily didn't leave her side, but she didn't make another move to touch her. It appeared that, that was what JJ was trying to avoid.

"Em," JJ looked at the woman that was a few steps ahead of her. She smiled at the ground but it wasn't because of happiness, it was at the stupidness of the situation she was in. "I can't walk….I can hardly stand." JJ accidentally let a tear slip down her cheek before hastily rubbing it away.

Emily softened her eyes and carefully wrapped an arm around JJ's waist, taking most of the weight. They slowly moved out of the house. The rain was absolutely pelting down now but neither of the girls seemed to notice. Emily concentrated on keeping JJ comfortable and JJ concentrated on staying awake.

"Jayje!" Morgan yelled over at the two girls who had just emerged before sprinting over himself and wrapping an arm around the opposite side of the girl. It kind of felt like JJ was floating now, she wasn't even holding herself up anymore, the two agents were practically carrying her toward the gurney the paramedics were rushing to get out of the ambulance.

The wind made JJ's hair whip her face and mixed with the rain it reminded her of how Emily had whipped her with her dark hair earlier in the case. JJ looked the taller woman next to her who was concentrated on walking in a straight line. Just then the wind whipped JJ's wet hair onto Emily's face but the woman didn't even flinch, it was as if nothing had even happened.

Two paramedics rushed around and lifted JJ's legs while Emily and Morgan positioned the blonde onto the gurney. JJ's eyes were fluttering. She wasn't sure if it was because of the rain or because of the darkness slowly sweeping into her vision.

"What's going on?" JJ heard Rossi's concerned voice somewhere in the distance, or, was he right next to her? She couldn't tell.

"Fault." Emily heard JJ mumble almost inaudible.

"Jayje! Stay awake!" Emily shouted after her as the paramedics hastily wheeled her into the back of the ambulance.

"Prentiss go with her." Hotch ordered. "Come on, we'll take the SUV." He nodded at the other three male agents. "Samson will accompany SWAT back to the precinct with the UnSub."

The guys didn't waste any time. They were piling into the black car faster than the rain was hitting the ground. Emily sighed as she climbed into the back of the ambulance. She wasn't sure if she was the right one going with JJ. When JJ had said 'fault' earlier, she'd presumed she was trying to say 'it's your fault Emily'. Obviously from the way JJ had been acting toward her had been really suspicious but Emily didn't really register that, she just felt guilty.

She just knew something was off.

Emily sat in the waiting room; she'd been sat there, in the same spot, for about two hours. Garcia sat across from her; Morgan had an arm rested around her shoulders. Hotch and Rossi had gone back to the precinct to handle the situation with the UnSub, they were probably throwing him around in the interrogation room right now. Reid had opted to pace then stare out the window at the never ending rain, then begin to pace again.

As Emily glanced sideways, she caught the red heads eyes for a second before Garcia looked away and to Morgan giving him a small smile. She could tell everyone thought the exact same thing.

Emily felt that horrible warm rush, that one where all the water rushes to your eyes. She knew she deserved this, she knew it was her fault.

She stood quickly, draping her hair in front of her face so no one would see the tears rolling down her face.

"Emily?" Reid asked as she practically jogged past him.

"Not now." Her voice cracked.

"What's wrong with her?"

"Jennifer Jareau?" A doctor in a stereotypical white coat and green scrubs walked around a corner into the waiting room.

"Yes?" Garcia stood abruptly shuffling closer to the man.

"She's fine. In perfect health. He didn't poison her or inject her with any substances but he did give her a strong pain relief medication and unfortunately that means we can't give her anything as it may cause complications." The doctor looked at the three agents that were standing eagerly around him.

"As for physical injuries, she's suffered internal bleeding from being beaten profusely. She has a third degree burn on her left arm just below her elbow that we've treated with care and will need to be watched closely over the next week. She also has suffered knife injury to her right arm. We've covered it up and ceased the bleeding but the bandages will need to be replaced regularly." The doctor could see the agents' faces slowly deteriorating. He pushed on.

"She has severe bruises all over her body, especially on both wrists. Her face and skull also suffered significant trauma. By tomorrow she will have a bruised jaw and she also has a large bump on the top left of her head, I would like it if you could keep an eye on that." He looked at Morgan particularly then.

"Finally, mentally I think she might have a problem compartmentalising this and I would really appreciate it if someone could stay with her for the first few days. She seems a bit too calm. She is threatening to discharge herself; I'd really like to keep her in for a few more hours just for observation. So it would be really helpful if you go into her room and just keep her talking or persuade her to stay. She's in room thirteen; along the hall to your right." The doctor nodded at the group before lowering his clipboard.

"Do you have any questions?"

"Will she be okay? In the end I mean." Garcia asked worriedly. The doctor gave a small nod.

"She will, however she most definitely will have scarring on both her left and right arms. Her left won't be too noticeable because the burn is only thumb size but it won't fade completely. Her right is the one I am most worried about right now. Even though the burn is more serious the shape of the scaring in her right will constantly remind her of that day. It will fade but to a lighter colour than her skin now." The doctor gave Garcia a tight smile.

"Okay." Garcia nodded, shaken up by the whole situation.

"Can we see her now?" Reid nervously threading his hands into his pockets. The doctor stepped aside and let them pass.

Emily stood in the rain, her tears mixing with the droplets falling onto her face. She couldn't help but laugh half-heartedly. Just two weeks ago JJ had stood Emily in her office and closed the door.

"_You know you're my best friend, right?"_

"_And you're mine." Emily smiled a small smile, worried about where this was going._

"_I just need to know you'll come to me, if you have a problem, if you're upset for absolutely no reason, if you just want a girly chat, or if you just need someone." JJ's honest blue eyes piercing into Emily's._

"_I'm fine JJ." Emily stubbornly replied. JJ unfolded her arms and took a small step forward._

"_I'm not a profiler. I don't get why people do the crappy things they do. I don't understand what's going on in their minds. But, I do understand you, Emily. There's something bothering you." JJ tilted her head._

"_What's the song?" Emily fidgeted with her hands. "It's, uh," Emily laughed a little before looking back to JJ. "It's depressing." JJ didn't answer directly; instead she narrowed her eyes, trying to read her friend._

"_It's called 'Stand in the Rain'; music helps me out when I'm debating between files. Stop changing the subject."_

_Emily sighed deeply; she hated how someone who wasn't even a profiler could read her like a book. Instead of spilling all, she just pulled the blonde into a hug and squeezed her eyes tight shut._

"_Thank you."_

**Reviews make JJ happy...**


	16. Chapter 16

**Ah! Yes i know, i'm sooo late. I've been out of the house from six this morning till now basically. Anyway, i've still got to reply to some of your reviews i'll do that now and thank you, by the way. they mean a lot. Anyway, here is the penultimate chapter...**

When the three walked into the dark room they didn't really know what to expect. But what they found made them sigh in relief. Jayje was curled over on her side staring out the far window. She didn't hear them walking into the room.

"Jayje." Penelope breathed. Jayje heard the voice and slowly rolled over.

"Hey guys." She put on her brave face as she painfully pushed herself up.

"No, don't move. I'm here in full nurse mode. I'll feed you, walk you, water you." Garcia rushed over to the opposite side of the bed. JJ raised her eyebrows in an attempted hurt look.

"I'm not a dog Cia. I'm not even that hurt." JJ smiled as if there was nothing wrong. "How're you guys?"

"Really? You're asking us how we are? You were the one tortured Jay." Morgan shook his head and too advanced on the bed.

"Stop making me sound like a victim. I'm not dead; I'm certainly not laying the woods somewhere and my heart rate's at seventy five. That usually means I've got a pulse." Jayje gave him an annoyed look.

"Doesn't mean you aren't in pain." Morgan spoke softly. JJ glared at him before intentionally dodging the question.

"Where's everyone else?"

"Uh, Hotch and Rossi said they'd be back in about an hour. They went to take care of the 'situation' at the precinct." By situation JJ knew Reid meant James Stone, she tossed her head slightly, annoyed that they were all tiptoeing her.

"Emily was sitting with us outside but she ran out like five minutes ago." Garcia explained.

"Didn't someone go after her?" JJ asked eyebrows raised. The other three agents looked at each other. Where they supposed to? Prentiss wasn't really in any of their good books right now.

"You guys are unbelievable." JJ rested her hands on her face before quickly retracting when she accidentally leaned on her sore nose.

"You can't blame us Jayje. He got you and she was right with you when he did." Morgan tried. JJ's mouth opened to protest.

"And he knocked her out with a shovel! She could've easily gotten a serious concussion from that, or worse. He merely tapped me. There was no way she could've gotten up and fought a six odd foot muscle machine." JJ's voice louder and a touch higher than usual. The other three shared a guilty look.

"I'll go find her." Reid attempted to rebuild the broken bridge. JJ then slid off the bed with difficulty.

"No." She stopped him just as her feet hit the ground. She hissed in pain.

"Jayje!" Morgan rushed to her side, JJ held him off with a hand.

"I'll go find her. I need to talk to her anyway." JJ took a cautious step.

"You can hardly walk sweetie." Garcia had too hopped up from her seat and was now fussing over the blonde shuffling towards the door.

"But I will." JJ's eyes were cool.

"Let us help you."

"Fine, but I don't need to be propped up like a doll. Walk next to me or something." JJ directed that more at Morgan who was shaking his head stubbornly.

"Cupcake…" Garcia whispered to Morgan. After much deliberation in his head Morgan stepped away. JJ nodded as a thanks before heading out into the corridor followed by the other three.

"Which way?"

"Outside, I think." Reid supplied.

Emily had been standing there for about fifteen minutes and she was still waiting for the cold to hit her. The wind was horrendous and the rain couldn't get any harder but she still felt numb. Like she'd let the world down. She knew everyone hated her and usually she wouldn't let that get to her. She'd shake it off. She was like butter; everything just slipped right off her.

Not this time. It was her best friends, her family. She felt like she was being stabbed in the heart. Another round of tears flooded from her eyes. She didn't hear the automated doors opening next to her until she saw a pair of black shoes approaching her. She quickly looked in the other direction and wiped her eyes, unknowingly not making any difference to the redness of them. She sniffed quickly before facing the approaching figure.

"Jayje?" Emily stuttered out at the sight walking toward her as confident as ever, minus the limp, visual bounds/bruises and bandages. "You need to go back inside," Emily stood away from the wall in panic. "You shouldn't be out in the rain."

"I know what you're thinking and you need to stop. Stop thinking it right now." JJ stood her ground as Emily tried to usher her back into the hospital. Emily looked to the side of JJ before leaning back on the wall.

"I can't, it was my fa…"

"No." JJ laughed in disbelief of the situation. "I don't even want you to finish that sentence."

"You said it was."

JJ double took her eyes wide with rage.

"I said what? That it was your fault?" JJ extended her arms out to the sides no matter how much pain she was in. Emily shrugged.

"When you were being wheeled into the back of the ambulance." JJ looked to the ground, thinking back to the time before shaking her head.

"Emily," JJ moved to stand in front of the brunette. "Emily, I didn't say it was your fault." Emily looked at her curiously.

"I was trying to say that it's not your fault. If anything it's mine, for being born with blonde hair and blue eyes." JJ nodded raising her eyebrows. A small smile graced Prentiss' lips but it was gone just as quickly.

"Everyone hates me." It was barely above a whisper.

"No one hates you. They should all be worshipping you. None of them attempted to jump in front of me to stop that knife going through my gut. I'm alive because of you." JJ rubbed Emily's arm before letting Emily take her hand in her own.

"Do you remember when you said you weren't worth it?" Emily turned to the blonde haired girl next to her. The water was dripping off her hair and eyelashes now. JJ slowly nodded guiltily. "I hope you didn't mean it."

JJ smiled and shook her head.

"I was angry. I was angry that I was the damsel in distress that all of the people I love had to come and save me from a messed up guy that I could've easily taken out myself."

Emily smiled and tightened her grip around the blonde's hand.

"You need to go back inside, the doctors are gonna be angry. You're like a pint sized sponge." They pulled away from the wall and turned to head towards the door. JJ gave her a puzzled but playful look.

"I'm sure the bandages on both of your arms are weighing you down more than your massive ego." JJ carefully shouldered Emily as they walked through the hospital doors.

"My ego is a perfectly normal size thank you." JJ played along. Garcia, Reid and Morgan all stood at the sight of their drenched friends. Morgan shook his coat off and wrapped it around JJ.

"I told you to keep her in the building." The doctor who had spoken to them earlier approached the small team quickly and ushered JJ into a side room. Emily raised her eyebrows at the tone the doctor had used with them.

"Emily listen," Penelope started approaching the dripping girl. "I didn't mean to be so bitchy, you know? I'm pretty sure Hotch wants me drug tested again." Emily smiled at her best friend.

"I would hug you but I feel like a fish." Emily smiled at the bubbly red head whose smile faltered at that last bit. "You know, 'cause I'm totally immersed in water."

Morgan grinned and began chuckling as he pulled her into an embrace; soon everyone joined the combined hug.

"What is this, national hug day?" Rossi spoke from his place behind the group. The hug soon dispersed.

"Where's JJ?" Hotch placed his hands on his hips expectantly.

"Uh, the doctor just took her in there." Garcia pointed toward said door.

"Probably to redo her bandages and put her in some scrubs." Emily nodded to herself. Hotch and Rossi exchanged a look.

"She went and stood out in the rain for a bit." Morgan explained giving the two older men a 'don't ask' look.

"Okay." Suddenly JJ immerged from the room in a pair of green scrubs a bit like the ones the doctor was wearing with brand new, pristine white bandages on each of her arms. She slowly approached the group. She wasn't walking right, she was all over the spot and the agents were worried.

"I feel like Ke$ha." JJ giggled patting Reid's chest. There were a few loud voices heard from the room JJ was previously in.

"_I told you to keep an eye on her! Those meds are strong."_

A few doctors rushed out the room.

"She's over here guys." Hotch beckoned the doctors over.

"I can see glitter."

**Reviews guarantee an update between 9 and 3 tomorrow, bribery, i'm evil...**


	17. Chapter 17

**Hey, so, here we are. Last chapter and all. Oh, by the way, is anyone else having problems replying to their reviewers or seeing the reviews? Anyway, i'm so happy you've all stuck with me this long, it's been such an honour hearing all your thoughts and reading what you have to say. Ok, here we go...**

JJ'd been out for a few hours now. As soon as the doctors had grabbed her arms her head had lolled back and she'd fallen unconscious. They'd been able to give her some stronger meds as soon as the ones James had given her had worn off. Since then she'd been as still as a rock. Hotch and Rossi had headed back to the temporary precinct to collect all of the BAU's things before heading to the plane. Morgan had taken Garcia back to the plane earlier so she could get some sleep and now they were just waiting until the doctors could clear JJ so they could head back to Quantico.

Reid and Emily were sat inside JJ's room. Reid was resting his head against the white wall, his eyes closed peacefully. Emily couldn't sleep so she alternated her time between pacing, looking out the window to JJ the sitting down. It went in repeat until she heard a cough at the door. She turned to see the doctor known as Miller. She silently stepped out of the room and closed the door.

"She's clear to leave now. Although I would like it if you people could keep her out of the field until the bruises have gone and the burn has healed considerably. Also, I'd like you to check she keeps the changing the bandages and using the steroid cream we've given her." The doctor smiled at Emily.

"Thank you doctor." Emily rested a hand on his arm.

"Keep an eye on her Agent Prentiss." He nodded before walking away.

Emily sighed before tiptoeing back into the silent room. Reid was still sleeping. She checked on JJ, she didn't want to wake her up, she looked so peaceful.

"Emily." The blonde girl groaned before stirring. Her eyes narrowly opened. "Your eyes are burning a hole into my face."

"I'm sorry, you just looked so tired but the doctors said we could leave." Emily moved closer to JJ.

"Let's go." JJ suddenly looked brighter at the prospect of getting out of the hospital. She'd tried sitting up but the meds made everything feel like a lead weight.

"Don't move Jayje." Emily placed a soft hand on JJ's shoulder and pressed lightly. JJ rolled her eyes at her protective friend. "There's a wheelchair in the room for a reason."

JJ groaned and threw her head at her pillow before thoroughly regretting it.

"Ow." She groaned, Emily smiled before rolling the chair to the side of the bed.

"Boy genius!" Emily flicked Reid's ear as she passed. He shook his head panicking at the sudden contact. "You're on wheelchair duty." Reid realised what was going on and took his place behind the handlebars. Emily held out her arms for JJ to take as she lowered herself into the chair.

"I hate these things." JJ grumbled.

"Oh please, if you could you'd live on a Segway." Emily mocked.

"Hey, look who it is!" Morgan exclaimed as Reid and Emily cautiously walked either side of JJ onto the plane. He stood and held her hands as she lowered herself onto one of the sofas while groaning.

"I can't wait to go home."

"I bet you could if you knew your future." Rossi added seriously. JJ's eyes widened.

"What?" JJ could hardly speak. Rossi cracked a grin after a minute.

"You're on desk duty for about three weeks." Emily, Reid and Morgan laughed at the expression that had crossed her face before the annoyed look settled on her features.

"Surely, I don't have to have three weeks? One week will be more than enough." JJ spoke in an obvious tone.

"Nu uh." Emily fetched JJ a bottle of water than carefully sat next to her. "And, just to make everything better, me and Garcia will be playing babysitter." JJ opened her mouth in disbelief.

"Don't even try to persuade us otherwise. It's gonna be girls' night, every night for one week." Garcia grinned brightly from the armchair opposite the two girls.

"Is there any point even attempting to argue?" Reid clipped his seatbelt together.

"I'm gonna go insane." JJ rubbed her temples.

"We're glad you're okay Jayje." Hotch sat down next to Rossi.

"I'm glad you guys found me." JJ smiled sensitively. Emily understandably nodded while trailing a light finger over the bruise on JJ's right wrist. "When you did." JJ added securely toward Emily.

JJ and Emily had some weird telepathic voice going on between them. JJ kept sensing that Emily thought they didn't get there in time, JJ knew Emily still felt guilty and there was nothing she could do about that apart from constantly tell her otherwise.

"You guys were awesome. You too Penelope." JJ smiled the first proper smile for what felt like days. It was silent for a little while until JJ spoke again.

"What happened to James anyway?"

Hotch and Rossi exchanged looks before Hotch took the lead.

"He'll be going to jail, for a long time." Hotch couldn't help but smile a little at that. JJ nodded.

"Good." JJ was obviously immersed in her thoughts until the jet engine started and they were slowly rising up through the air. After the seatbelt sign turned off the group were milling around or creating small talk.

"Now if you don't mind." JJ began to groan loudly as she lowered her head onto Emily's lap. "Oh god this hurts." JJ carried on shuffling herself around until she was relatively comfortable.

"Great, now I have to sit here till we land." Emily sarcastically remarked.

JJ laughed evilly.

"You're my bitch."

'_Life is like a game of cards. The hand that is dealt you represents determinism; the way you play it is free will.'_

**And that's it. All done now. Thank you so so much again. I love you all, it's been such a fun journey and i can't wait to start another one, look out for me soon. I'm sure another story is on the horizon. It sounds like i won the X Factor or something. Anyway i'm going to list all of my reviewers now because you're all amazing.**

**Jessi, dundeegirl1, blackandblueangel, littlegreenbottle, MelxxWhoLuvsYa, Swifty1212, dino-dog83, vampiremuggle, crazyobsession101, jungleanimal, mindspsychoaddict, elfspirit7, ddffranke, cellochick373, savetonight, EmPoweredBeing, SQ215, 00, Jareau-26, laurenhd08, foxyfeline, scadki, smg55, that-girl-red, 22twilighter22, Chrissiemusa, Daisyangel, , Hesper_Black, elodie84, Swampje, kdzl, keelzz64, Iulya, ADA-AprilMorgan, anna, Afroza-IX, cmfan12, AgentNote, nomanslandvicki, Paris-Never-Ended22**

**As always, reviewers are like stars and each review i recieve from a star is like another rainbow in the sky...**


End file.
